Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record took a massive step forward on Sunday.
The Washington Capitals forward scored a hat trick in his team's 7-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers, giving him 29 goals in 41 games this season. Ovechkin is now 13 goals behind Gretzky's record of 894 NHL goals and has a chance to set the mark this season.
When asked by reporters if he believes it's viable to reach Gretzky's mark this year, Ovechkin stressed that he's only focusing on one game at a time.
“Game by game,” Ovechkin said, adding that he thought he could have scored more than three in Sunday's game but was happy with the hat trick.
Ovechkin has made it clear that he's not putting too much emphasis on the record, maintaining that putting the Capitals in position to go on a Stanley Cup run is his only priority. In an interview with Tom Gulitti of NHL.com earlier this month, Ovechkin was asked whether he's thinking about passing The Great One.
“No,” Ovechkin said. “Not at all."
Sunday's win gave the Capitals a league-leading 84 points.
Ovechkin's scoring this season puts him on pace to top Gretzky's record before the end of the regular season, even after he missed 16 games earlier in the season while recovering from a broken leg.
