Alex Ovechkin becomes fourth 40-plus year old to score 30 goals in a season
Washington Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 30th goal of the season Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, becoming just the fourth player over the age of 40 to reach the 30-goal mark in a single season.
#ALLCAPS Alex Ovechkin records his 20th career 30-goal season (extending his NHL record)
Ovechkin banged in a loose puck in front of the Flyers’ net with less than two minutes to go in the first period to open the scoring. He now joins Gordie Howe, Johnny Buyck and Teemu Selanne as the only 30-goal scorers over the age of 40 in NHL history.
It’s the 20th 30-goal season of Ovechkin’s career, a record in itself. The player with the second-most 30-goal seasons is Mike Gartner with 17.
Ovechkin failed to reach 30 goals in a season just once: he scored 24 goals in 45 games during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 campaign.
Most 30-goal seasons in NHL history: Ovechkin - 20 Gartner - 17 Jagr - 15 Gretzky - 14 Howe - 14 Dionne - 14
The 40-year-old Ovechkin now has 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points in 75 games with the Capitals this season. Through 21 NHL seasons, the Moscow native has 927 goals and 754 assists for 1,681 points in 1,566 career regular-season games.
In 161 career playoff games, he has 77 goals and 70 assists for 147 points. He led the Capitals to their only Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2018.
Ovechkin has recorded nine 50-goal campaigns and has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy nine times, awarded to the player with the most goals during an NHL regular season. Ovechkin has also won the Hart Trophy three times, awarded to the league’s most valuable player.
Among other notable honors, Ovechkin won the 2006 Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie, and led the league with 110 points in 2007-08 – the only Art Ross Trophy of his career. He took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP en route to his only Stanley Cup in 2018.