Deen’s Daily: Goals Galore and Alex Ovechkin’s Goals Record Chase

All it took was one game for Alex Ovechkin to get back on track. After all, most goal-scorers are streaky and often score in bunches. And Ovechkin might be the streakiest of the bunch.

Despite the Washington Capitals storming out of the gate with five wins in seven games, Ovechkin entered Tuesday’s matchup against the New York Rangers with just two goals. One of which was scored on an empty net. But Ovechkin did what Ovechkin usually does when people start to question his ability to chase this record: Scored not one, but two goals.

Suddenly, the 39-year-old has four goals in eight games, putting him on pace for 41 goals. Which, funny enough, would tie him with Wayne Gretzky. He needs 42 to break the record.

I spent all summer debating if he’d hit the record this season or if it would bleed into 2025-26. And honestly, I still struggle with the prediction. But what we saw against the Rangers on Tuesday was vintage Ovi. He wired a wrister past Igor Shesterkin to open the scoring before racing to the front of the net a couple of minutes later to restore Washington’s lead for his second tally. He also had five shots on goal, six other shot attempts, and two hits. The Caps dominated the Rangers and outshot them 46-19.

What makes me lean more towards him reaching the mark this season is how Washington’s general manager completely re-made the roster around Ovechkin over the offseason. A more competitive team increases Ovi’s chances of reaching the mark. The additions of Matt Roy, Jakub Chychrun, Taylor Raddysh, Andrew Mangiapane, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakub Vrana, Brandon Duhaime, and Logan Thompson have completely changed their look and suddenly they’re 6-2-0 to start the year.

Speaking of goals, there were some crazy final scores on Tuesday.

The Seattle Kraken went into the Bell Centre and annihilated the Montreal Canadiens, defeating them 8-2 led by defenseman Brandon Montour’s hat trick. And just up the 401 in Ottawa, the Senators dominated at home against the St. Louis Blues, winning 8-1 thanks to two-goal performances from Tim Stutzle, Adam Gaudette, and Brady Tkachuk.

Colorado Hockey Now

Following the Avalanche’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, I wrote about how the first 10 games looked for Colorado as a whole. My takeaways piece, which is available for CHN+ subscribers, covers all the key storylines and observations from the first segment of the season.

Colorado Hockey Now is on Youtube. CLICK HERE to subscribe.

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins hosted Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday and lost 5-3. Fleury got to dunk on his former team one last time in what is expected to be his last game in Pittsburgh — the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2003.

San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks came back from a 4-1 deficit in the third period on Monday to defeat Utah. The following day, they doubled up the L.A. Kings by a final score of 4-2 to gain their second win of the season. Defenseman Jake Walman had three points in each game. I still genuinely have no idea what Steve Yzerman was doing when he offloaded Walman and attached a second-round draft pick to him over the offseason. Just a terrible, terrible trade.

Detroit Hockey Now: Speaking of offloading defenseman, the Red Wings shipped Olli Maatta to Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday in exchange for a third-round draft pick. While the Red Wings have a surplus of NHL-capable blueliners, Utah is hurting for help on defense. Both Sean Durzi and John Marino are out until at least February. They were also missing Michael Kesselring in their brutal loss to the Sharks on Monday because of an illness.