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Announcer Calls Alex Ovechkin ‘One Trick Pony’ as He Closes on Wayne Gretzky’s Record

Ovechkin is 10 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record.

Stephen Douglas

Alex Ovechkin celebrates his 895th career goal.
Alex Ovechkin celebrates his 895th career goal. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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Alex Ovechkin scored the 895th goal of his NHL career on Wednesday night as the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers in overtime 3–2. Ovechkin scored the game-tying goal midway through the third period and in the process, moved within 10 goals of passing Wayne Gretzky on the league's all-time scoring list.

The Capitals celebrated by posting the video along with the caption "one trick pony scores his 885th career goal and records his 1,599th career point." This was a reference to what announcer Darren Pang said on the broadcast during the first period.

"We all know that Alex Ovechkin's been a bit of a one-trick pony throughout his NHL career," Pang said on the TNT broadcast. It's a comment he won't soon be allowed to forget.

Even if Ovechkin was a one-trick pony, when you play hockey for a living and your one trick is scoring goals, that's actually a very useful trick. The Capitals have 28 games remaining this season and Ovechkin has a chance to overtake Wayne Gretzky as the league's all-time leading goal scorer.

He's also 56th in NHL history in assists, 11th all-time in points and third in hits. The one trick he should be associated with is the hat trick because he's tied for the fifth most of those of all-time.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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