Compare those numbers to the 2023-24 season, when 33 NHL goaltenders recorded a sub-3.00 goals-against-average. Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck ended up winning the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goalie with a 2.04 goals-against-average.

Gretzky had the highest peaks. Lemieux might have had the most talent. The New York Islanders’ Mike Bossy was the most efficient. But Ovechkin is the most prolific, the most consistent, the most enduring — combining those legends’ finishing ability with a durability none could match, and doing it in a vastly more difficult era in which to score.

The Washington Capitals got back to work three days after Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record and hope to get their game on track with the playoffs fast approaching