Kraken coach Dan Bylsma had hoped to avoid seeing another Ovechkin goal, saying before the game, “You fear his shot any time he gets the puck on his stick, and I don’t need to see it tonight.”
Bylsma had seen Ovechkin score a few at his team’s expense during his six seasons as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009-2014). He also witnessed Gretzky up close for four games as his teammate as an NHL rookie with the Kings in 1995-96.
Like pretty much everyone else, Bylsma figured no one was going to get close to 894 goals.
“We all put it in the category of, ‘Well, that’s never going to be reached,’” Bylsma said. “But Ovechkin has been scoring 50 goals (a season) for an awful long time now. The number is what the number is, but I think what Alex has done is he’s going to be the greatest goal-scorer of all time. Whether he gets the number today, tomorrow or next week or next year, he’s going to go down as the greatest goal-scorer of all time because he’s done it over and over and over again.
“He’s done it for a long time and he shows no signs of stopping. So, it’s just a matter of time now that he will get the mark and officially take the mark as the greatest goal-scorer of all time.”
In his 20th NHL season, Ovechkin leads Washington and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 33 goals in 49 games. The Capitals (42-14-8), who have won four in a row, are tied with the Winnipeg Jets for first in the League standings, making a run at adding another Stanley Cup championship to Ovechkin’s legacy feel like a realistic goal.
But before the Capitals and everyone else turns the page to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky’s record is going to be one of the biggest stories in sports. Perhaps, as Carlson suggested, one worthy of a movie.
California is the next stop on the ride.
“You just can never underestimate what he’s capable of doing,” Carbery said of Ovechkin. “So, good time to go out west.”