(Caps Outsider)
Of all the things that happened in Saturday’s 4-3 Caps win against the New Jersey Devils, like a 1,000 point ceremony, and apples on the ice, we choose to write about a somewhat fluky stat known as the Game Winning Goal.
With the goalie pulled late in the game, the Devils scored to pull within one, thus shifting the game-winning goal tally from Nicklas Backstrom – the player of the night – to Alex Ovechkin – the best goal scorer of all time. It just so happened that it was Ovi’s 121st career game-winning goal, which ties him with Gordie Howe for second most all time.
Ovi wins the tiebreaker with Howe, though, because Howe played 505 more games. Ovi also trails Howe by 29 goals for second most all-time. As for the most game-winners all-time? Jaromir Jagr, with 135.
While Ovi is now only 14 behind Jagr, it’s still not a record Ovi is certain to get, as the Game Winning Goal statistic requires a bit of luck (like the Devils actually scoring late in the game tonight). Plus, Ovi only has 14 total in the last three seasons, matching the lowest stretch of his career. We won’t bet against Ovi, though, but for him to beat Jagr, it’s not just a matter of scoring a lot of goals (after all, Wayne Gretzky is 20th on this list, yet No. 1 all time… go figure), but having it align perfectly with the one needed for the win.
Now let’s watch something way more interesting that happened tonight:
this. this is the one. pic.twitter.com/ByGyIIMS9s
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 27, 2022
