If it was your intention to watch the Washington Capitals- Pittsburgh Penguins game with the hopes of seeing Alexander Ovechkin score his 1,000th point, you had better been in your seat by puck drop.
If you were stuck in line trying to get into Verizon Center or rushing to your section from the concourse you probably missed the milestone goal because he scored 35 seconds into the contest.
Another angle of the #Ovech1Kin goal featuring @WaltonCaps‘ goal call. Chills. #CapsPens#RockTheRedpic.twitter.com/6Ua4JapOVX
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 12, 2017
He scored when he took a pass from Nicklas Backstrom at the blue line. As he skated down the right side of the ice Krig Letang respected the star forward too much and gave him plenty of space to make a move toward the center and rip a wrist shot by Marc-Andre Fleury.
While some hockey critics dislike the current style of hockey over the last 12 seasons, Ovechkin became the second-fastest active player to reach 1,000 points (Jaromir Jagr: 763 games) and the 24th-fastest player in NHL history to record 1,000 points in NHL history. It should be noted once Sidney Crosby reaches the 1,000 mark those games-played marks will be sooner than Ovechkin. He also became the 37th player in NHL history to record 1,000 points with one franchise. His 545 career goals are the second-most through a player’s first 1,000 points in league history. Only Brett Hull’s 560 goals had a higher goals-to-assist ratio.
Ovechkin added a power goal in the second period to give him 21 goals on the season as the Capitals won the rivalry game 5-2.