Alex Ovechkin Passes Up Goal Chance to Help Teammate Amid Wayne Gretzky Record Chase

Capitals great chose passing over scoring in empty-net chance.

Alexanfer Ovechkin did not go for his 887th career NHL goal. / Victory Sports

Alexander Ovechkin is creeping up on Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record, entering Tuesday night's Washington Capitals-Anaheim Ducks game with 886, only eight fewer than The Great One's 894. Yet he is still playing within the system and not taking extra opportunities to reach the top of the remarkable NHL list.

Ovechkin notched three assists in the Capitals' 7–4 victory, including one in the final moment when Anaheim had pulled their goalie. The future Hall of Famer gained possession of the puck near Ducks' blue line but instead of turning and heading toward the empty net, he quickly fed the puck to Aliaksei Protas so he could add to his own tally.

That's being a teammate right there. Now, there's a reasonable debate to be had about how clear-cut of a goal chance Ovechkin had. He had his back to the net and Ducks players were closing in. But he's the second-leading scorer in the sport's history so if anyone could have capitalized, it's him.

Ovechkin has 17 games left in the regular season to tie and potentially surpass Gretzky. He has netted 33 so far this year in 65 contests, so that's about one every two games. Which means it could really go either way and this moment may prove to be the difference in whether the accomplishment happens in the spring or next fall.

---

More on Sports Illustrated

feed