Fans were buzzing over Alex Ovechkin's 876th goal.
In the third period of a Thursday night battle between the Washington Capitals and the Ottawa Senators, future NHL Hall of Famer inched closer to Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record.
“Alex Ovechkin scored on the PP and is now 19 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record,” Capitals Insider Tarik El-Bashir wrote.
Entering the game, Ovechkin was 20 goals away from Gretzky's record of 894 goals scored across his 20-year career. Then, with roughly seven minutes left in regulation, Ovechkin scored on the power play.
Unfortunately, Ovechkin's goal wasn't enough to rally the Capitals to a win, as they were beaten 5-4 in overtime.
With more than a third of the season remaining, there's a real possibility that Ovechkin sets the record. The Capitals have 31 games left on the schedule.
Throughout Ovechkin's 35 games played in 2024, he has totaled 23 goals, averaging approximately 0.67 goals per game. Using that math to average out the rest of the season (31 games) would give him 20 goals, surpassing Gretzky's all-time record of 894 goals throughout his career.
In fact, Ovechkin is on pace to break Gretzky's record on April 13, when the Capitals face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets, per NHL Public Relations on X.
“Alex Ovechkin and the The Gr8 Chase nearly helped the @Capitals erase a multi-goal, third-period deficit. His tally against the Senators was his 10th power-play goal against the franchise. He is on pace to pass Wayne Gretzky on April 13.”
As one of the best scorers in NHL history, Ovechkin has blessed Capitals fans for two decades, and fans still can't get enough.
All across social media, people — Caps fans or not — were going nuts over Ovechkin's 876th goal.
Now, one of the more blunt reactions to this goal came from an account that keeps quite a close eye on Ovechkin's goal-scoring: An account named “Did Ovechkin Score?”
And on Thursday night against the Senators, this account got to pick the positive side of this two-sided coin.
“Yes (876),” the account posted.
Along with Ovechkin's goal-tracker, social media had a warm reaction to his 876th goal.
Here were some of the best reactions:
Although most fans had a kind remark about Ovechkin's goal, not everyone was as pleased to hear about it.
All-in-all, most fans were excited for Ovechkin as he nears Gretzky's goal record.
