It was the 500th goal of Alex Ovechkin’s NHL career in his 801st game, making him the fifth-fastest in NHL history to reach the milestone. Wayne Gretzky (575 games), Mario Lemieux (605), Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (693) each scored 500 goals in fewer than 700 games. Phil Esposito needed 803.
Ovechkin has proven to be one of the league’s greatest goal scorers in any era, but especially in recent NHL history. His 500 goals are 149 more than any player in the league has scored since he joined the Washington Capitals at the start of the 2005-06 season.