Capitals HC makes his feelings known on key aspect of Alexander Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL goal record

Alex Ovechkin cannot stop scoring goals. The Great 8 is rapidly chasing down Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goal-scoring record. With four goals in his last two games, Ovechkin is now up to 883 career goals, just 11 behind Gretzky's 894 career tallies.

He needs just 12 goals in the Capitals' final 24 games to surpass the Great One during the 2024-25 season. That necessitates a 0.5 goals-per-game pace from Ovi, a mark he's more than capable of sustaining as he's scored at a 0.6 goals-per-game clip over his 1,468 career games to date.

Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery spoke on "The Sports Junkies" show on 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday morning about the goals chase. He was asked about the possibility of Ovechkin breaking the record on an empty net, to which he replied:

"I've thought about it, I haven't talked to O about this yet, but, this is my guess, is that when he gets to that point, I don't think he's going to want to break it with an empty netter."

He currently leads the NHL with seven empty net goals this season, though that shouldn't diminish how amazing Ovechkin has played this year at 39 years old. Through 42 games played, he's racked up 47 points (30 goals, 17 assists) leading Washington to a 38-12-8 record as the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Without having suffered a broken fibula in November that sidelined the Caps superstar for 16 games, we could have been already talking about him etching his name alone atop the record books.

Alex Ovechkin has the most empty-net goals in NHL history

While he's pursuing a more important record, Alex Ovechkin has already claimed the top spot among empty net goal-scoring in NHL history.

The Great 8 has potted 64 career empty net goals, eight more than none other than Wayne Gretzky (56 goals) who has the second most all-time. Marian Hossa (40 goals) is the only other player to register over 40 empty-net goals in the NHL.

As they say, a goal is a goal no matter what it looks like, they all count. That certainly is the case for Ovi as the hockey world continues to follow his pursuit of greatness down the stretch of the 2024-25 campaign.

He continues the Great Chase on Thursday night when the Capitals host the St. Louis Blues. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Capital One Arena.