Only Alex Ovechkin can make a 48-goal season at age 34 feel disappointing. Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the NHL on March 12, the Great 8 was scoring at his most impressive rate outside of his peak years. 2019-20 was one of Ovi's most historic seasons, and while some milestones and records ended when Ovi lost the last 13 games of the season, he did manage to make the most of the 68 he did play. Ovechkin scored at near a 50-goal pace throughout the beginning of the season, but found himself behind young stars such as David Pastrnak and Auston Matthews by as much as 8 goals. Then Ovechkin woke up on the morning of January 13th and decided enough was enough. His stretch from January 13 to February 4th is one of the greatest stretches of goal scoring ever seen in the NHL, and certainly the finest of Ovi's illustrious career. In those 7 games, Alex Ovechkin:
- Scored 14 goals
- Scored 3 hat tricks in 6 games, 2 of them consecutive (3rd straight season with hat tricks in back to back games)
- Scored his first career natural hat trick in under 5 minutes to lead the Caps to a comeback win on Feb. 4th, which also marked a career-high 4th hat trick of the season
- Passed Teemu Selanne, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, and Mark Messier to jump from 11th to 8th all-time in goals in just 5 games
- Tied Mike Gartner and Jaromir Jagr's record of 15 straight 30-goal seasons, tying Jagr for 2nd most overall (Gartner - 17)
- Hit 40 goals for the 11th time, giving him sole possession of 2nd-place in career 40-goal seasons (Gretzky - 12)
Ovi's epic goal-scoring binge vaulted him into 1st place in goals, and got him closer to yet another milestone - 700 goals. On February 22, he hit the mark becoming the 2nd fastest to do so and the fastest to go from 600-700. On pace for 57 goals when the season abruptly ended, he was all but guaranteed to tie the record of 9 50-goal seasons. Unfortunately, for the 3rd time in his career he finished within 5 goals of 50, but he did tie Pastrnak for the Rocket (in 1 less game) to add to his record of seasons leading the league in goals, as well as his record of 45+ goal seasons.
1 - October 2, 2019 @ St. Louis Blues - 500th game w/ a goal - 0:00
2 - October 10, 2019 @ Nashville Predators - 0:55
3 - October 10, 2019 @ Nashville Predators - 1:53
4 - October 12, 2019 @ Dallas Stars - 2:47
5 - October 14, 2019 vs. Colorado Avalanche - 3:36
6 - October 20, 2019 @ Chicago Blackhawks - 4:33
7 - October 22, 2019 @ Calgary Flames - 5:28
8 - October 24, 2019 @ Edmonton Oilers - 666th career goal 😈 - 6:31
9 - October 24, 2019 @ Edmonton Oilers - 7:40
10 - October 29, 2019 @ Toronto Maple Leafs - 8:40
11 - October 29, 2019 @ Toronto Maple Leafs - 10:04
12 - Novermber 7, 2019 @ Florida Panthers - 11:41
13 - Novermber 7, 2019 @ Florida Panthers - 12:38
14 - November 15, 2019 vs. Montreal Canadiens - 13:29
15 - November 18, 2019 vs. Anaheim Ducks - 14:38
16 - November 27, 2019 vs. Florida Panthers - 15:41
17 - November 29, 2019 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 16:43
18 - November 30, 2019 @ Detroit Red Wings - 17:48
19 - November 30, 2019 @ Detroit Red Wings - 18:55
20 - November 30, 2019 @ Detroit Red Wings - 24th career hat trick - 19:43
21 - December 9, 2019 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 20:57
22 - December 20, 2019 @ New Jersey Devils - 21:56
23 - December 23, 2019 @ Boston Bruins - 22:41
24 - December 28, 2019 @ Carolina Hurricanes - 23:47
25 - January 7, 2020 vs. Ottawa Senators - 24:48
26 - January 7, 2020 vs. Ottawa Senators - 25:42
27 - January 13, 2020 vs. Carolina Hurricanes - 26:37
28 - January 13, 2020 vs. Carolina Hurricanes - 27:50
29 - January 16, 2020 vs. New Jersey Devils - 29:09
30 - January 16, 2020 vs. New Jersey Devils - 15th career 30-goal season - 30:15
31 - January 16, 2020 vs. New Jersey Devils - 25th career hat trick - 31:20
32 - January 18, 2020 @ New York Islanders - 33:06
33 - January 18, 2020 @ New York Islanders - Passes Mario Lemieux for 10th all-time in goals - 34:24
34 - January 18, 2020 @ New York Islanders - 26th career hat trick - 35:42
35 - January 29, 2020 vs. Nashville Predators - Passes Steve Yzerman for 9th all-time in goals - 36:43
36 - January 31, 2020 @ Ottawa Senators - 37:38
37 - January 31, 2020 @ Ottawa Senators - Passes Mark Messier for 8th all-time in goals - 38:47
38 - February 4, 2020 vs. Los Angeles Kings - 40:18
39 - February 4, 2020 vs. Los Angeles Kings - 41:25
40 - February 4, 2020 vs. Los Angeles Kings - 27th career hat trick, 11th career 40-goal season - 42:29
41 - February 20, 2020 vs. Montreal Canadiens - 44:21
42 - February 22, 2020 @ New Jersey Devils - 700th career goal - 45:25
43 - February 25, 2020 vs. Winnipeg Jets - 47:56
44 - March 1, 2020 @ Minnesota Wild - 48:58
45 - March 1, 2020 @ Minnesota Wild - 49:55
46 - March 5, 2020 @ New York Rangers - 50:53
47 - March 5, 2020 @ New York Rangers - 51:48
48 - March 9, 2020 @ Buffalo Sabres - 52:52
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