WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Coaching Alex Ovechkin for three seasons has normalized his hot pursuit of for Peter Laviolette.
鈥淣ot a crazy thing at all,” Laviolette said before his New York Rangers faced Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Saturday. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see him slowing down.鈥�
Nope, not slowing down.
Ovechkin scored the fifth goal and move 23 back of breaking Gretzky’s record of 894 that long seemed unapproachable. He has four in five games since returning from missing the previous 16 with a .
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible,鈥� teammate Connor McMichael said. 鈥淓ver since I was a kid, I grew up watching him do all these amazing things, and now to have a front-row seat to him doing something really special has been awesome. He鈥檚 been helping our team win night in and night out, so I can鈥檛 say enough good things about him.鈥�
Ovechkin is one away from reaching 20 goals in all 20 of his seasons in the league. The broken left fibula paused the Gretzky chase, but the 39-year-old has returned with a vengeance.
鈥淭o be honest with you, I feel every game better 鈥� touches, skating wise,” Ovechkin said. 鈥淚鈥檒l take it.鈥�
Center Dylan Strome, who has assisted on 14 of Ovechkin’s 19 goals, said, 鈥淚t just feels like he gets on these runs.鈥� Because of these runs, Ovechkin remains on pace to pass Gretzky this spring.
鈥淥bviously, he鈥檚 an all-time great,鈥� Capitals winger Andrew Mangiapane said. 鈥淛ust seeing his every day kind of lifestyle and seeing him on the ice and every time he scores, it鈥檚 a great kind of feeling and I think it pumps up everyone on our bench.鈥�
Laviolette, who coached Washington from 2021-23, praised Ovechkin’s shot as being the best in the world but pointed more to his work ethic than anything else to explain how the scoring has continued.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a guy that just doesn鈥檛 stop,鈥� Laviolette said. 鈥淗e wants to get better. He鈥檚 going to play hurt. He鈥檚 going to play injured. He鈥檚 going to get out there (and) he鈥檚 going to try and make a difference for his team.鈥�
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