WASHINGTON — The NHL now has a 900-goal club.
Charter member: Alex Ovechkin, of course.
The Washington Capitals star pushed his record total to a new level Wednesday night, scoring against Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues to reach 900. The milestone came 2:39 into the second period of a 6-1 win.
“A couple days ago somebody ask me, ‘Do you think about (900)?’ Of course, it’s huge number, no one ever did it in NHL history and to be the first player to ever do it, it’s a special moment,” Ovechkin said. “It’s nice it’s over to get it in the homestand so the fans, my family can be here. It’s pretty cool.”
Ovechkin was lurking in the offensive zone and was at the bottom of the right circle when he backhanded Jakob Chychrun’s rebound past a sliding Binnington, who wasn’t able to recover in time. The bench cleared to celebrate the 40-year-old’s accomplishment, while Binnington tucked the milestone puck into his pants.
“I don’t know, maybe he was trying to grab it to give it to him,” Capitals goalie Logan Thompson quipped.
Binnington eventually relinquished the puck to linesperson Michel Cormier when he was pulled from the game for Joel Hofer after giving up four goals on 15 shots. Binnington was unavailable for comment after the game.
The puck found its way to Ovechkin.
Alex Ovechkin poses in the locker room with his 900th NHL career goal puck. Nick Wass/AP
Of Ovechkin’s 900 goals, 22 have been scored against the Blues, and four against Binnington.
After breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career record with his 895th goal in April, Ovechkin entered this season needing three more to reach 900. After four games without one, he ended that drought in the third period against Minnesota on Oct. 17.
A week later, he scored No. 899 against Columbus.
“None of us can relate to a ‘slump’ for him,” Capitals teammate John Carlson said. “I think he’ll grab a lot of momentum from this.”
Ovechkin is in the final season of his contract, and it’s a long way from here to 1,000, so this could be the final round-number goal-scoring milestone for the star forward, who has won three MVPs and led the league in goals nine times.
“Even with the slow start here, if someone asks me if he’s going to score 30 this year, I’d say, ‘Yes, guaranteed,'” longtime teammate T.J. Oshie said last week. “He just finds a way to prove people wrong every time people think that he’s down and out. … There’s been plenty of time for me to come to terms with not putting limits on the big man.”
Ovechkin has 977 goals when combining the regular season and playoffs, second behind Gretzky (1,016).
“I don’t think I have lots of weight on my shoulders, I just try to play game, try to do as best as I can … 13 games, 14 games, you have plenty of games left, of course you’re going to score one goal,” Ovechkin said, adding, “It’s nice to get it.”
Alex Ovechkin celebrates with his Capitals teammates after scoring his 900th career NHL goal in the second period Wednesday night against the Blues. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Ovechkin has been remarkably consistent through his career, rarely missing significant time because of injury. As a result, his milestones have been pretty evenly spaced, although it did take a little longer to go from 800 to 900.
Goal No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 (game 167)
Goal No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (game 296)
Goal No. 300: April 5, 2011 (game 473)
Goal No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (game 634)
Goal No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (game 801)
Goal No. 600: March 12, 2018 (game 990)
Goal No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (game 1,144)
Goal No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (game 1,305)
Goal No. 900: Nov. 5, 2025 (game 1,504)
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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