Deen’s Daily: Goal Plenty and Tracking Alex Ovechkin’s Goal Record

All it took was one game for Alex Ovechkin to get back on track. After all, most goal scorers are streaky and often score goals in groups. And Ovechkin might be the craziest of the bunch.

Ovechkin entered Tuesday’s game against the New York Rangers with just two goals despite the Washington Capitals storming the ball with five wins in seven games. One of them was thrown into the empty goal. But when people started questioning his ability to chase that record, Ovechkin did what Ovechkin usually does: He scored not one, but two goals.

Suddenly, the 39-year-old scored four goals in eight matches, taking him to 41 goals. Which, funnily enough, ties him to Wayne Gretzky. He needs 42 to break the record.

I spent all summer debating whether it would break the record this season or carry over into 2025-26. And to be honest, I still struggle with this prediction. But what we saw against Rangers on Tuesday was vintage Ovi. He wired past Igor Shesterkin to open the scoring before racing to the front of the net to restore the lead for Washington’s second score a few minutes later. He also had five shots on goal, six shot attempts and two kicks. The Caps dominated the Rangers and defeated them 46-19.

What makes me more excited about him reaching his goal this season is that Washington’s general manager completely rebuilt the roster around Ovechkin in the offseason. A more competitive team increases Ovi’s chances of achieving its goal. The additions of Matt Roy, Jakub Chychrun, Taylor Raddysh, Andrew Mangiapane, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakub Vrana, Brandon Duhaime and Logan Thompson completely changed their outlook and suddenly they started the year 6-2-0.

Speaking of goals, there were some crazy final scores on Tuesday.

The Seattle Kraken entered the Bell Center and destroyed the Montreal Canadiens. beat them 8-2 Led by a hat-trick from defender Brandon Montour. And just up the 401 in Ottawa are the Senators, at home against St. Louis. They dominated the St. Louis Blues and won 8-1 thanks to two-goal performances from Tim Stutzle, Adam Gaudette and Brady Tkachuk.

Colorado Hockey Now

Following the Avalanche’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, I wrote about what the first 10 games looked like from Colorado’s perspective. My takeaway piece offered to CHN+ subscribersIt covers all the major stories and observations from the first episode of the season.

Colorado Hockey Now on Youtube. CLICK HERE to subscribe.

around the nhl

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins hosted Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday and lost 5-3. Fleury dunks on his former team one last time It is expected to be his last game in Pittsburgh; The team that took him No. 1 overall in 2003.

San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks came back from a 4-1 deficit in the third period to beat Utah on Monday. The next day, They doubled over the LA Kings with a final score of 4-2 They got their second win of the season. Defenseman Jake Walman had three points in each game. I still really have no idea what Steve Yzerman did when he cut Walman and gave him a second-round draft pick in the offseason. Just a terrible, terrible trade.

Detroit Hockey Now: Speaking of offloading defensemen, the Red Wings Sent Olli Maatta to Utah Hockey Club Tuesday in exchange for a third-round draft pick. While the Red Wings have a surplus of NHL talented blueliners, Utah needs help defensively. Both Sean Durzi and John Marino are out until at least February. They also missed Michael Kesselring in their brutal defeat against the Sharks on Monday due to illness.