Capitals captain and NHL’s all-time goals leader becomes first to reach 900-goal mark; Capitals to hold a pregame ceremony to honor Ovechkin for reaching 900 goals and 1,500 games on Nov. 26 at Capital One Arena
Capitals captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin netted his third goal of the season on Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena to become the first player in NHL history to score 900 career goals.
The Capitals will hold a special pregame ceremony on Nov. 26 against the Winnipeg Jets to honor Ovechkin for becoming the first player in NHL history to reach the 900-goal mark and the eighth player in NHL history to play 1,500 games with one franchise, a feat he accomplished on Oct. 25. President of hockey operations Brian MacLellan and general manager Chris Patrick will join Ovechkin’s wife Nastya, kids Sergei and Ilya, and mom Tatyana on the ice to honor Ovechkin.
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Ovechkin, who broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record when he scored his 895th career goal on April 6 at UBS Arena, reached the 900-goal mark in his 1,504th career game. Ovechkin, 40, has a career goals-per-game-rate of 0.60, which is tied with Gretzky (894g in 1,487 GP) for the highest in NHL history among players with 1,000 or more games played. Ovechkin’s 0.55 goals-per-game rate since turning 35 on Sept. 17, 2020, is the highest in NHL history by a player after their 35th birthday. In addition, Ovechkin has scored an NHL record 425 goals since turning 30.
Since making his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2025, Ovechkin holds a 266-goal lead over the next closest player (Sidney Crosby: 634g). Since 2005-06, only seven other players have managed to score at least half of Ovechkin’s career total (Crosby: 634g; Steven Stamkos: 584g; Evgeni Malkin: 517g; John Tavares: 500g; Patrick Kane: 494g; Joe Pavelski: 476g; Corey Perry: 453g).
In NHL history, Ovechkin ranks first in goals, power-play goals (326), game-winning goals (137), overtime goals (27), road goals (458), game-opening goals (150), game-tying goals (150), go-ahead goals (292), and empty-net goals (65), and second in even-strength goals (569), and multi-goal games (179).
Ovechkin was selected by the Capitals in the first round, first overall, in the 2004 NHL Draft. The Moscow native has registered 1,631 points (900g, 731a) in 1,504 career games with Washington. Ovechkin is the Capitals’ franchise leader in games played, goals, points, playoff games played (161), playoff goals (77), and playoff points (147).
In his career, Ovechkin has won a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a Calder Trophy, an Art Ross Trophy, three Hart Memorial Trophies, three Ted Lindsay Awards, and nine Maurice Richard Trophies. He is the only player in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe, a Calder, an Art Ross, a Hart, a Ted Lindsay, and a Maurice Richard Trophy.
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