Ovechkin Reaches 1,000 Points

Alex Ovechkin (Via Yahoo Sports)

Alexander Ovechkin wasted little time putting the puck in the net in Wednesday night’s matchup between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. It took Ovi all of 35 seconds to open the scoring for the game. He took a pass from Nicklas Backstrom in the neutral zone and carried it over the blue line down the right wing. At the circle, he cut towards the net a bit. He faked a shot as he swiveled his hips, fooling Pens’ defenseman, Kris Letang, drifting backwards into the slot. When he saw that Pens’ goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was frozen, he fired away.

The first goal of the game was Alex Ovechkin’s 545^th goal of his career, passing Maurice “The Rocket” Richard for sole possession of 29^th place in career NHL goals. Furthermore, the goal was his 1,000^th career point, the 84^th player in NHL history to reach the milestone.

“Alexander the Gr8” wasn’t finished, though. He tallied a second goal, his 21^st of the season, in the second period on the man-advantage. Ovi was set up by defenseman John Carlson on top of the left-wing circle, his power play office. He took the pass and sent the one-timer blazing past Fleury’s left shoulder. The Caps topped the Pens 5-2. The win was the 685^th for Caps’ Head Coach Barry Trotz, surpassing the late Pat Quinn for sole possession of seventh place all-time.

Barry Trotz has played a big role in transforming Alex Ovechkin into a full 200-foot player. Ovi has been criticized in the past for his back-checking, or rather, the lack thereof. Trotz is the third coach for Ovechkin on the Washington Capitals, a team that was essentially re-built around the Russian winger upon being drafted first overall in 2004. The 31-year old is still looking for his first Stanley Cup. If anyone is going to help him do it, it will be Trotz.

Ovechkin now has 1,001 points in 880 games played in the NHL. Henrik Sedin should be next up to reach the milestone, as he has 996. After Sedin, Penguins’ Captain Sidney Crosby will soon reach his 1,000^th point. Crosby was witness to Ovechkin’s tallies last night. He has 983 points in just 741 games. Crosby will likely be the twelfth fastest player to reach the milestone, if he beats Jaromir Jagr who accomplished the feat in 763 games.

Congratulations to Alexander Ovechkin on this accomplishment! He’s without a doubt a future Hall of Fame inductee. But, I’m sure he would give that up to hoist the Cup.