Ovechkin passes Gordie Howe, thanks to two former Leafs goaltenders

With 22 goals on the season now, his last 4 of his last 5 goals - career number 798, 799, 800, and 801 - have come against former Toronto Maple Leafs net-minders. The lone outlier, #802 was scored on an empty net last night.

Ovi scored a hat-trick and reached milestone #800 against the Chicago Blackhawks and Petr Mrazek on the 13th of December in a 7-3 thrashing. He then scored on Friday against David Rittich and the Winnipeg Jets, before #802 found the open cage to seal the deal for the Caps over the Jets.

Both goaltenders only spent at least part of one season in Toronto as Mrazek was traded out of his lengthy contract at this year's draft and Rittich only played for the Leafs in 4 games in 2020-21, serving as a backup at the time.

Ovechkin is still a few seasons away from surpassing the Great One but each and every goal from here on out is going to be huge. If and when Ovechkin gets close, Gretzky has stated that he hopes to attend every Caps game in hopes that he can be present for Ovi to break the record.

Gretzky has been openly supportive of Ovechkin's pursuit of his record, being quotes as saying that "records are meant to be broken" and "it would be great for the game".