Capitals to Honor Captain Alex Ovechkin

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals will honor captain Alex Ovechkin for becoming the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal milestone with a special pre-game ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 14, when the Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks at Verizon Center. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, president Dick Patrick and general manager Brian MacLellan will join Ovechkin’s parents, Mikhail and Tatyana, and fiancé Nastya Shubskaya, on the ice to honor Ovechkin. The Capitals organization will present Ovechkin with a special gift to commemorate his achievement.

Ovechkin became the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to score 500 goals on Sunday, scoring his 500th NHL/Capitals goal in the second period against the Ottawa Senators at Verizon Center. Ovechkin scored his 500th career goal in his 801st NHL game, trailing Wayne Gretzky (575 games), Mario Lemieux (605), Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (693) as the fastest to reach the 500-goal plateau.

Since entering the NHL at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals (501), points (934), power-play goals (185), power-play points (367) and game-winning goals (85). In addition, Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals since 2001-02 despite beginning his NHL career in 2005. He is the only player in the NHL to score 30 or more goals in each season since 2005-06 and his average of 0.625 goals per game is fourth in NHL history (minimum: 300 games played), trailing only Bossy (0.762), Cy Denneny (0.755) and Lemieux (0.754).