By Sean Gentille The Athletic
Share this story

Alex Ovechkin’s chase has reached the final four.

The Washington Capitals winger scored career goal No. 891 on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, putting him four away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894 with eight more games remaining in the regular season.

ADVERTISING

Ovechkin scored a power-play goal past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman in the first period to make it 2-0 Washington.

At this point, shocking as it sounds, Ovechkin falling short before the end of the season would be something of a surprise. In fact, four goals in eight games would represent a step back from his rate of production this season. In 58 games, he has scored at a 53-goal pace. His actual total of 38 is lower, thanks to a fractured fibula that cost him 17 games in November and December.

Since returning to the lineup on Dec. 28, with minimal room for error, Ovechkin has avoided the sort of slump that’d kick the chase to October. Only once in that span has he gone more than two games without finding the net, and the goal against Boston was his third in four games.

At the start of the game, based on Ovechkin’s expected scoring pace, his teammates and his opponents, gave him a 45.8 percent chance to break the record this season.

The Caps began the night three points behind Winnipeg in the Presidents’ Trophy race and, despite a recent mini-skid, have a firm hold on the Eastern Conference’s top seed. Washington’s next game is Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, their closest competition in the Metropolitan Division and a team against whom Ovechkin has historically had plenty of success (51 goals in 91 career games).

In his last game against the Hurricanes on Nov. 3, Ovechkin scored No. 860, giving him a personal three-game goal streak against Carolina starter Pyotr Kochetkov. On Friday, the Caps face the Blackhawks, who have allowed three or more goals in each of their last 13 games and remain one of the worst teams in the NHL.

From there, the Capitals have games against the Islanders, the Hurricanes, a home-and-home against the Blue Jackets (including the home finale) and the Islanders again before finishing their regular season in Pittsburgh on April 17.