Alex Ovechkin’s milestones have happened with such regularity this season that each one doesn’t seem to carry as much weight anymore. There was his 900th point, his 484th goal to become the highest goal-scoring Russian ever in the NHL and then his 500th goal. On Sunday, he scored his 30th goal of the season, and the goal didn’t generate the fanfare of the other accomplishments, it added him to an even more exclusive list.
Ovechkin became just the third player in NHL history to score at least 30 goals in each of his first 11 seasons. Mike Gartner had at least 30 goals in his first 15 seasons, and Wayne Gretzky did it in his first 13.