Alex Ovechkin's immediate reaction to reaching 700-assist milestone
10/16/2024 10:11 AM
Although all eyes are on Alex Ovechkin scoring goals in 2024-25, the Washington Capitals star forward is still pretty good at setting his teammates up. The Great Eight registered two assists in a 4-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, adding another milestone to his illustrious career after recording his 700th assist.
Ovechkin is the 60th player in NHL history to reach 700 assists, and just the sixth to have at least 700 goals and 700 assists, per NHL.com’s Harvey Valentine. That joins an exclusive club that only features legends: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Phil Esposito and Marcel Dionne.
“When you play 20 years in hockey, I’m pretty sure you’ll get the same number," Ovechkin said afterwards. "Yeah, it’s pretty big number. Nice to be in that company. So, yeah, move forward."
All business for Ovechkin; his first assist came on a Tom Wilson powerplay tally just over three minutes into the second period. The Russian passed the puck behind the net to Dylan Strome, who fed Wilson for a point blank one-timer.
"Just huge momentum for them, to be honest, especially when they got ‘Ovi’ on the power play,” Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev said afterwards, per Valentine. “He's always a threat and they just took advantage of it."
That marker gave Washington a 2-1 lead, and Ovechkin wasn’t done. He set up new linemate Aliaksei Protas on a slick slot pass after he corralled a bouncing puck in the corner to extend the lead to 3-1 shortly after.
"He makes that play happen on that goal," said Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery, per Valentine. "Great job using his feet, cuts back, finds space. That’s a huge play in that moment."
Alex Ovechkin gets standing ovation from Capitals crowd after 700th assist
Ovechkin was serenaded by the 16,727 in attendance at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night, as he continues to chase milestones in his age-39 season. He ended up being the first star of the game after recording two assists, six shots and six hits over 16:55 of time on ice.
Now that he has 700 apples under his belt, the focus turns back to Ovechkin’s chase to break Gretzky’s goal-scoring record. With no goals and three assists over two games, Ovechkin remains 42 tallies away from breaking The Great One’s mark.
Still, he’s helping his team get wins, and showing that he is still a fantastic playmaker at his advanced age. Along with a fantastic performance from Logan Thompson against his former team, the Capitals are back in the win column for the first time in 2024-25.
“The team came out working tonight," Thompson said after making 24 saves in his Capitals debut. "They were doing a good job boxing out and making my life really easy. Overall, that's just a great team win and a lot of positives to build off tonight."
It was an impressive win for the Caps, who spoiled the Golden Knights’ bid for a perfect 4-0 start to the season. Washington will remain at home to welcome the high-flying Dallas Stars to the nation’s capital on Thursday, before heading out on a quick two-game road trip to New Jersey and Philadelphia.
The post Alex Ovechkin’s immediate reaction to reaching 700-assist milestone appeared first on ClutchPoints.
