[31-MAR-2019] #OviWatch #50Goals #51Goals

Last night against Tampa Bay, in a 6-3 victory, Our Hero scored his 50th and 51st goals of the 2018-19 season, with three games to go. (Only three??! Where did the season go??!)

01 - Wayne Gretzky    - 894 G in 1487 GP +236
02 - Gordie Howe      - 801 G in 1767 GP +144
03 - Jaromír Jágr     - 765 G in 1714 GP +107
04 - Brett Hull       - 741 G in 1269 GP + 84
05 - Marcel Dionne    - 731 G in 1348 GP + 74
06 - Phil Esposito    - 717 G in 1282 GP + 58
07 - Mike Gartner     - 708 G in 1432 GP + 50
08 - Mark Messier     - 694 G in 1756 GP + 36
09 - Steve Yzerman    - 692 G in 1514 GP + 34
10 - Mario Lemieux    - 690 G in  915 GP + 32
11 - Teemu Selänne    - 684 G in 1451 GP + 26
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12 - Luc Robataille   - 667 G in 1431 GP + 9 not likely
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13 - Alex Ovechkin    - 658 G in 1079 GP
13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1431 GP

Ovi is now in sole possession of 13th place all time. While it's not likely that he gets nine goals in the next three games, and I wouldn't bet on it, I wouldn't bet against it, either, given it's Ovi. I've learned not to bet against the Great 8.

As both RMNB and Japers' pointed out this last week, Ovi has had a remarkably consistent career: 328 goals in his first 540 games, 328 goals in his second 540 games. And as Twitter Tweeter @caleb_adams3 pointed out:

Gretzky's record: 894 goals Swap Gretzky's 8 and 9 and what do you get? 984 goals Ovi's new record: 328 * 3 = 984 goals 'Tis the prophecy. @caleb_adams3

If Ovi manages to play in another 540 games (535 games beyond the end of this season - that's roughly another 6-1/2 seasons) and scores 328 goals in that time period, the League will bow to him, and so will every mother's son on this planet, as the undisputed GOAT. 

As of today, Ovi is tied with Luc Robataille with 247 power play goals for 4th all time. 

01 - Dave Andreychuk - 274 PPG in 1639 GP +27
02 - Brett Hull      - 265 PPG in 1269 GP +18
03 - Teemu Selanne   - 255 PPG in 1451 GP + 8
04 - Alex Ovechkin   - 247 PPG in 1081 GP

In other milestones:

Nicklas Backstrom scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season last night, and T.J. Oshie scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season. Backstrom is the 7th Capital to score at least 20 goals this year (Kuznetsov-20, Backstrom-21, Connolly-22, Wilson-22, Vrana-23, Oshie-25, and Ovi-51). Not a bad haul, and though Carlson, with 13, is about as likely to hit 20 as Ovi is to hit 60, with only three games left... well, if they did it, it'd be one hell of a feat, wouldn't it?