Alex Ovechkin has become the 60th player in NHL history to reach 700 career assists, achieving this milestone with his second point during the Washington Capitals’ 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin earned a secondary assist on Tom Wilson’s power-play goal early in the second period, and then he set up his linemate Aliaksei Protas a few minutes later.
“He makes that play happen on that goal,” said coach Spencer Carbery. “Great job using his feet, cuts back, finds space. That’s a huge play in that moment.”
A video montage showcasing his assists was played on the arena’s video boards during a timeout, and Ovechkin waved to the fans, who gave him a standing ovation.
“It’s because of lots of shots, lots of rebounds coming from the net, so I’ll take it,” Ovechkin said.
Ovechkin, who is second on the career goal-scoring list with 853 goals, has three assists in his first two games of the season. The 39-year-old winger is 42 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s long-standing record.
He is now one of six players to have both 700 goals and 700 assists, joining Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne, and Phil Esposito. Ovechkin credited his 20 years in the league for this achievement.
“It’s a pretty big number,” Ovechkin said. “Nice to be in that company.”
To tie Gretzky, known as the “Great One,” Ovechkin would need another 1,304 points, as Gretzky has more assists than any other player has total points.
In this second game of the season, the 39-year-old played some right wing, moving from the left side where he has spent most of his career. He admitted it was hard to adjust at first.
“You adjust, neutral zone, defensive zone, and especially in the offensive zone you’re moving around,” Ovechkin said. “It doesn’t matter for me. First couple shifts were kind of like, ‘Whoa.’ It’s always like I wanted to go to the left side. But we’ll see how it goes.”
