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ARLINGTON, Va. – Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin became the Capitals franchise points leader on Tuesday, earning his 826th career point with an assist in the first period against the Calgary Flames at Verizon Center. Ovechkin recorded his 826th career point in his 691st career game, passing Peter Bondra, who collected 825 points in 961 career games for the Capitals.
“It has been a thrill to watch Alex play for the Capitals during his young, illustrious career,” Bondra said. “He is an extremely talented player and I couldn’t be happier for him on achieving this great milestone. I extend to him my most sincere congratulations for passing my mark and becoming Washington’s franchise points leader. I wish him good luck in the rest of his career as he continues to rewrite the Capitals’ history books.”
Ovechkin, 29, was selected by the Capitals in the first round, first overall, in the 2004 NHL Draft. The Moscow native has registered 826 points (428 goals, 398 assists) in 691 career games for Washington, and ranks first in points and power-play goals in franchise history and second in goals and assists. The 6’3”, 235-pound left wing is a three-time winner of the Hart Trophy and a four-time winner of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. Ovechkin led the NHL in goals (51) last season, becoming the 11th player in NHL history to record five 50-goal seasons and just the fifth to do so in his first nine campaigns, following Mike Bossy (9 in 9), Wayne Gretzky (8), Guy Lafleur (6) and Brett Hull (5).
“Congratulations to Alex Ovechkin on the outstanding achievement of becoming the leading scorer in Washington Capitals history,” said Gretzky. “He’s a tremendous talent with many great years and achievements ahead of him.”
Since entering the NHL at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals (428), points (826), power-play goals (154) and game-winning goals (70). In addition, he is the only player in the NHL to score 30 or more goals in each season since 2005-06. His average of 0.620 goals per game is fifth in NHL history (minimum: 300 games played), trailing only Bossy (0.762), Cy Denneny (0.755), Mario Lemieux (0.754) and Pavel Bure (0.623).
