Alex Ovechkin scored again on Wednesday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 50th career goal against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 6-3 win on Wednesday night — and the Washington Capitals superstar joined an exclusive club in the process.
“Alex Ovechkin scores his 855th career goal to make it 6-3. It marks Ovechkin's 50th career goal against the Flyers, which is tied for the third most goals he has scored against a single franchise (55g in 73 GP vs. WPG; 50g in 81 GP vs. TBL; 50g in 90 GP vs. CAR),” wrote Caps PR on X shortly after Ovechkin scored Washington's final goal.
With that, the Great Eight is now just the fourth player since 1980-81 to score 50 or more goals against at least four franchises. The only three members of the club are Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman (four each), and, of course, Wayne Gretzky. The Great One has scored 50-plus against five teams.
It's another impressive milestone for Ovechkin, who is now just 40 goals away from breaking Gretzky's all-time record of 894 goals. And although the Russian will be happy to continue chasing the record, he's probably even more thrilled the way the Capitals have started the season.
After Wednesday's triumph, Washington has won five straight games and sits 5-1 on the 2024-25 campaign.
Alex Ovechkin, Capitals off to a tremendous start
The Capitals have been excellent in the early going, losing to the New Jersey Devils in their home opener before racking up five consecutive victories. That has the club in third palce in the Metropolitan Division, just a point back of the the rival Devils and New York Rangers.
Washington got some revenge on New Jersey exactly a week later, beating them 6-5 in overtime in Newark. The Caps also beat Philadelphia twice, along with the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars, since October 15.
The start is even more impressive considering the strength of schedule; each of the Devils, Knights and Stars are among the top teams in National Hockey League standings.
“This is the start you want, right?” offseason acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois said after the win, per NHL.com's Harvey Valentine. “We’re probably not going to go 81-1, but you want to ride the waves as long as you can. It’s not perfect. … None of the games were perfect, but to find a way to win the games, that’s what the top teams do, and we want to get there. It’s a long season, there’s a lot to do, but these points are just as valuable as the points in March.”
Dubois was excellent, scoring a goal and adding two assists in the victory, while Logan Thompson made 26 saves for the surging Capitals.
In the early going, it looks like the front office's offseason work is paying off in spades. Dubois, Thompson, Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun have all been solid in the nation's capital, and this looks like a completely different team than last year.
The Capitals will look to keep the good times rolling in Tampa Bay against the Lightning on Saturday night.
