Alex Ovechkin Joins Elite NHL Group with 700 Career Assists

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has become the 60th player in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) to reach 700 career assists. This milestone was achieved during the Washington Capitals‘ 4-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. Ovechkin contributed a secondary assist to Dylan Strome‘s power-play goal early in the second period and set up another goal moments later.

Spencer Carbery, the Capitals’ coach, commented on Ovechkin’s performance, saying, “He makes that play happen on that goal. Great job using his feet, cuts back, finds space. That’s a huge play in that moment.” Following Ovechkin’s milestone, a montage of his assists was displayed on the arena’s video boards, prompting a standing ovation from fans. Ovechkin responded, acknowledging the crowd with a wave.

“It’s because of lots of shots, lots of rebounds coming from the net, so I’ll take it,” Ovechkin said regarding his achievement. Currently standing second on the NHL’s career goal-scoring list with 853 goals, Ovechkin is 42 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s long-standing record. He is the sixth player to have both 700 goals and 700 assists, joining greats like Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne, and Phil Esposito.

“It’s a pretty big number,” Ovechkin remarked on joining the elite group, adding, “Nice to be in that company.” While he remains far from Gretzky’s assist record, which stands at 1,963, Ovechkin’s career continues to impress as he adapts to new positions on the ice.

In the recent game, the 39-year-old Ovechkin played some minutes on the right wing, a change from his customary left wing position. He acknowledged the challenge, saying, “You adjust, neutral zone, defensive zone, and especially in the offensive zone you’re moving around. 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.”

The Washington Capitals took a commanding lead early in the game, with Jakub Vrana scoring 6:09 into the first period. The Golden Knights managed to equalize with a power-play goal late in the period, but the Capitals responded with three consecutive goals in the second period. Despite a second Vegas goal in the latter part of the game, Washington secured a 4-2 win.