The New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals have a hockey game to play but a magical milestone could come on New Jersey ice.
The New Jersey Devils are hosting the Washington Capitals tonight. There is a lot of buzz surrounding this game for one reason only. The Devils are in a fight for the last place while the Capitals are in a fight for the first place. None of that matters in this game, because all we’re going to talk about going in to the game is Washington forward Alex Ovechkin currently sitting on 699 goals. Ovechkin is looking to become the 8th player to ever reach that elusive 700 goal mark. All eyes are certainly going to be on number 8 in this one.
He has had a lot of success in his career against the Devils. Of course, he has had success against everyone because he is one of the greatest players to ever live, but the Devils are exceptionally good at letting him score goals. In 56 career games against New Jersey, he has scored 29 goals. Add in 34 assists for 63 points and he is well over a point per game against them.
The Devils really don’t want to be the team that is in the highlight of Ovechkin’s 700th goal. Cory Schneider or MacKenzie Blackwood also probably don’t want to be the answer to that trivia question. It would be cool to see such history happen at the Rock, but you never want to see your team relieve goals to the opposition. It is sure to be a sight to behold once Ovechkin does reach his 700th goal and saying he has a good chance to do so against the Devils is likely.
They are not really a good team when it comes to keeping high volume shooters at bay. That is why predicting Ovechkin to reach his milestone against them is a safe bet. He also plays with some great pass distributors like Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, and T.J. Oshie at even strength and on the power play.
This is a, for all intents and purposes, meaningless game for New Jersey but the Ovechkin factor makes it a notable game on the day’s NHL schedule. It is a Saturday afternoon game so you know that people are going to be tuned in. We will see if the greatest goal scorer ever is able to reach his elite milestone.