Alex Ovechkin scores his 900th NHL goal with the Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The NHL now has a 900-goal club.

Charter member: Alex Ovechkin, of course.

The Washington star pushed his record total to a new level Wednesday night, scoring against Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues to reach 900. The milestone came 2:39 into the second period of .

鈥淎 couple days ago somebody ask me, 鈥楧o you think about (900)?鈥� Of course, it鈥檚 huge number, no one ever did it in NHL history and to be the first player to ever do it, it鈥檚 a special moment,鈥� Ovechkin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice it鈥檚 over to get it in the homestand so the fans, my family can be here. It鈥檚 pretty cool.”

Ovechkin was lurking in the offensive zone and was at the bottom of the right circle when he backhanded Jakob Chychrun鈥檚 rebound , who wasn鈥檛 able to recover in time. The bench cleared to celebrate the 40-year-old鈥檚 accomplishment, while Binnington tucked the milestone puck into his pants.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, maybe he was trying to grab it to give it to him,” Logan Thompson quipped.

After breaking Wayne Gretzky鈥檚 career record with his 895th goal in April, Ovechkin entered this season needing three more to reach 900. After four games without one, he ended that drought in the third period against Minnesota .

A week later, he scored No. 899 .

鈥淣one of us can relate to a 鈥榮lump鈥� for him,鈥� John Carlson said. 鈥淚 think he鈥檒l grab a lot of momentum from this.鈥�

Ovechkin is in the final season of his contract, and it鈥檚 a long way from here to 1,000, so this could be the final round-number goal-scoring milestone for the star forward, who has won three MVPs and led the league in goals nine times.

鈥淓ven with the slow start here, if someone asks me if he鈥檚 going to score 30 this year, I鈥檇 say, 鈥榊es, guaranteed,鈥欌€� longtime teammate T.J. Oshie said last week. 鈥淗e just finds a way to prove people wrong every time people think that he鈥檚 down and out. … There鈥檚 been plenty of time for me to come to terms with not putting limits on the big man.鈥�

Ovechkin has been remarkably consistent through his career, rarely missing significant time because of injury. As a result, his milestones have been pretty evenly spaced, although it did take a little longer to go from 800 to 900.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I have lots of weight on my shoulders, I just try to play game, try to do as best as I can … 13 games, 14 games, you have plenty of games left, of course you鈥檙e going to score one goal,鈥� Ovechkin said, adding, 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to get it.鈥�

Goal No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 (game 167)

Goal No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (game 296)

Goal No. 300: April 5, 2011 (game 473)

Goal No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (game 634)

Goal No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (game 801)

Goal No. 600: March 12, 2018 (game 990)

Goal No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (game 1,144)

Goal No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (game 1,305)

Goal No. 900: Nov. 5, 2025 (game 1,504)

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AP freelance reporter Sammi Silber contributed to this story.

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