New peak: Ovechkin came out on a clean fourth place in the list of the best snipers of the NHL

Alexander Ovechkin did not share the fourth line in the list of the best snipers in the history of the National Hockey League with Brett Hull for a short time.

Four days after he scored the 741st goal and caught up with the American hockey player, the Russian scored again in a match with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Now his only targets are Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Jaromir Jagr.

Ovechkin could finally leave Hull behind even in a meeting with the Detroit Red Wings, which took place the day before. But in it, the captain of the Washington Capitals suddenly disappeared into the ice. Although he chalked up the transfer in the moment with Dmitry Orlov's goal, the striker himself never came close to continuing the sniper race. Ovechkin did not even inflict a single shot on target - the last time this happened to him before the pandemic, since the beginning of which 59 matches have passed. The Russians were not helped either by going out on the ice at the end of the meeting, when the hosts released the sixth fielder and left the goal empty.

Special attention is now riveted to Ovechkin's goals, not only because he conquers one of the most significant peaks in the history of hockey.

“Washington” found itself in a difficult situation when several of the main forwards of the team dropped out due to injuries - TJ Oshie, Niklas Backstrom, Anthony Manta and Nick Dowd.

So a possible decline in Ovechkin's game could inevitably lead to poor results for the entire team.

He now not only can, but must continue to chase after Gretzky, until his companions leave the infirmary.

However, the Capitals fans' alarm turned out to be false.

The day after Ovechkin's not very successful game in Detroit, Washington came to visit Columbus.

The team of Vladislav Gavrikov and Yegor Chinakhov had not played for five days before and clearly missed hockey.

Already in the third minute, Sean Kurali opened the gate of Ilya Samsonov.

But the Blue Jackets were short-lived. In the middle of the first period, Evgeny Kuznetsov made a pass to Ovechkin's powerful shot from the left. He was a little late to enter the face-off circle, but even from such a decent distance, the 36-year-old Russian was accurate and scored his 742nd goal in the NHL and 12th this season.

In the future, Ovechkin also helped Garnet Hathaway to issue a double, taking part in the moment with the American's second goal. Thanks to this, “Washington” took the lead with a score of 3: 1, but in just 70 seconds it lost all its advantage. Guests snatched victory only in the penultimate minute, when Conor Shiri scored with Orlov's serve. “Columbus” removed the goalkeeper, and Ovechkin had a real chance for a double, but the Russian did not manage to arrange shooting at an empty goal. However, he was already glad that he climbed to fourth place in the list of the best snipers in the league.

“It means a lot to me.

When you start playing hockey and find yourself in the NHL, you cannot imagine that you will find yourself in the same company with such names.

It is also a very special moment for my parents, my wife, children.

Of course, we didn't start the match very well.

The opponents were pressing very well.

Samsonov did a good job, he left us in the game.

We have fulfilled our goal and are moving on, ”Ovechkin said after the match.

Brett Hull himself reacted to the next achievement of the Russian.

He wished Ovechkin not to stop and continue to meet the expectations of the fans.

“Alex, congratulations on reaching a clear fourth place in the list of the best snipers. My good friend Wayne Gretzky always says, "You have to earn your nickname," when he takes a good golf shot. Well, Alex, you are fully qualified for the "Great Eight" title, and even more. Congratulations again, keep going up this ladder, I wish you nothing but success. Keep it up, ”Hull said.

The next target for Ovechkin will be Jaromir Jagr.

The Czech striker has 766 goals in 1,733 NHL games.

The Russian needs to score 24 more goals to catch up with the 49-year-old hockey player who continues to play to this day.

It is likely that this will happen this winter.

Ovechkin also continues his pursuit of Leon Dreiseitl - in recent days, the Edmonton Oilers hockey player has stepped up and removed the Washington captain from the first place this season.

The Russian striker is now losing two goals to him, although not long ago he was ahead of him.