For the fourth consecutive season (and sixth total) Alex Ovechkin will finish as the NHL’s top goal-scorer. The Washington Capitals star added three more goals to his total against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, bringing his season total to an even 50 with one regular season game still left to play for the Caps.
The hat trick was Ovechkin’s 15th of his career and helped him reach the 50-goal mark for a seventh time since he entered league in 2004. In that time frame, no player besides Ovechkin has had more than two 50-goal seasons, and he’s just the third player ever to reach 50 goals seven or more times. The scariest part of it all? Ovechkin is still only 30-years-old and hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down.
While Ovechkin is undoubtedly one of the best goal-scorers in NHL history, the biggest knock on the Russian winger is that he has yet to win a Stanley Cup. With the Capitals locking up the President’s Trophy this season and about to head into the playoffs as favorites in a weak Eastern Conference, there may be more pressure than ever on Ovechkin to come up big for his team, even after another phenomenal individual season.
