Capitals' Backstrom thinks Ovechkin can catch Gretzky's goal record
Currently 237 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time regular season goal scoring record of 894, Capitals sniper Alexander Ovechkin needs a lot of things to go right to become the new titleholder.
But, The Great Eight’s longtime linemate, Nicklas Backstrom, thinks he has a shot at passing The Great One.
Ovi doesn’t like to talk about it. So we’ll let Nicklas Backstrom say it. He thinks Ovi can break Gretzky’s record & he thinks it will become very important to him as he gets closer.
Could you imagine how fun #Caps games will be if Ovi gets really close?!? It will be insane. pic.twitter.com/hAl6BJJKDU— Rob Carlin (@RobCarlinNBCS) September 12, 2019
“I think he might catch him,” Backstrom noted of the 33-year-old’s chances to top Gretzky on Thursday. “The way he’s shooting the puck and the way he scores. That’s incredible. We just have to feed him...”
The man responsible for setting up many of Ovechkin’s 658 markers, Backstrom sounds willing to do his part to potentially help the Russian superstar reach his goal.
Even Ovi himself talked about what it would mean and the effort needed to pass Gretzky’s daunting — yet impressive — record. Plain and simple, it won’t be easy.
However, of the players still active in the game today, Ovechkin is surely the best bet to get it done. His type of goal-scoring talent is truly generational, and this may be the closest we get to seeing someone unseat No. 99 for quite some time.
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