When Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored the 484th goal of his NHL career on Thursday night to set the record for goals scored by a Russian-born player in NHL history, it was one more milestone reached in a career path that certainly will take him to the Hockey Hall of Fame one day.
This milestone came after several close calls in the form of goals that were scored, but overturned on replay, and even in the game against the Dallas Stars, in which the record was set, he sent an apparent goal ringing off a pipe that caromed out instead of in.