MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) — Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has become the Capitals’ all-time points leader, the Washington Times reported.
With his assist to Nicklas Backstrom’s first-period goal in a game against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, Ovechkin surpassed previous record holder winger Peter Bondra’s record of 826 points, and did so in only 691 games, against Bondra’s 961.
Ovechkin has yet to match Bondra’s overall goals 428 to 472, and is three points behind his 73 all-time game-winning goals, but has secured the team record for power-play goals (154) and overtime goals (15).
Addressing reporters during the second intermission in the game against Calgary, Bondra, who came to the game as a spectator, graciously congratulated Ovechkin, noting that he views him as “an extremely talented player,” adding that “I couldn’t be happier for him on achieving this great milestone.” Bondra wished Ovechkin luck “in the rest of his career as he continues to rewrite the Capitals’ history books.”
Ovi, as he’s known by NHL fans, has been called “one of the NHL’s most dominant offensive forces in the last decade” by USA Today Sports, and was also congratulated by ‘the Great One’, Wayne Gretzky, who praised Ovi’s “outstanding achievement” and noted that “he’s a tremendous talent with many great years and achievements ahead of him.”
Ovechkin had faced some flak from NHL fans over the past months over his posting of an Instagram photo with a sign reading “Save Children from Fascism”, pairing it with a message reading: “our grandfathers and grandmothers saw the horrors of fascism; we will not permit it in our time!” The hockey star’s Instagram post was quickly flooded with statements from angry NHL fans telling him to leave the NHL and go back to Russia.
Undeterred, Ovechkin has continued to speak his mind, congratulating Vladimir Putin on the president’s birthday last month, and stating that he thinks the president is “on the right track, and we respect your actions and will support you in everything because we also love our country.”
