Alex Ovechkin set an NHL record on Saturday, scoring his 57th empty net goal to pass Wayne Gretzky for most all-time.
Oftentimes, empty-netters are great way to pad stats, especially now that teams are pulling their netminders with multiple goal deficits, and earlier in the period. This is in contrast to the pull the goalie with a minute left to play in a one-goal game strategy that lasted for decades. Gordie Howe has 12 empty net goals in his career, with 801 career goals.
Ovechkin’s empty net goal total is about 6.8 percent of his goals (up from 5 percent from a few years ago), so he’d still be third all time in goals if he never scored on an empty net (and Gretzky’s goal total would be 840).
Ovi still has a long way to go to beat Gretzky’s record of 894 goals. He’s not going to pot-shot his way to the record, especially with the Caps losing more than winning in recent years. But at this point, I don’t care if Ovi scores more empty net goals than usual, as those goals also mean that the Capitals win the game, which is icing on the cake.
All-Time Empty Net Goals Leader… Alex Ovechkin #57 🚨 pic.twitter.com/oxdMwY2Qok
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 10, 2024
