It took seventeen and a half seasons for Alexander Ovechkin to reach his 800th career goal, but the wait to get to 801 and 802, spanning five games over ten days, felt like an eternity.
At last, on the final game before the holiday break, in front of a capacity crowd of 18,573 huddled inside the confines of Capital One Arena and the millions watching around the globe, the palpable anticipation of yet another set of milestones came to fruition in a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
On the game’s first goal on a wrist shot from a weaving drop pass from Dylan Strome above the right circle, Ovechkin tied Gordie Howe’s career goal total for his 801st regular-season NHL tally.