Inside The Numbers: Ovechkin's career against the Canadiens

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals welcome the Montreal Canadiens to Capital One Arena on Thursday night. According to his career breakdown at Hockey Reference, tonight will be his 59th game against the Original Six franchise.

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Despite playing eight games in the 2024-25 season, The Great 8 scored four goals and seven points, bringing his career total to 857 goals, which is now 37 fewer than Wayne Gretzky's record of 894.

One of the best scorers in hockey history, Ovechkin has had great success against Montreal. So let’s look at the stats to see how he performed against the Canadiens.

256 – It's no secret that Ovechkin is the leader of his generation with 6,653 shots on goal. He scored 256 points against the Canadiens, the 15th most against any opponent. With a shooting percentage of 14.8, he ranks 8th compared to opponents.

67 – Ovechkin scored 67 points against the Canadiens and averaged 1.19 points per game for his career.

58 – The Capitals captain is about to play his 59th game against Montreal, which ranks the Toronto Maple Leafs 12th against any opponent.

38 – Ovechkin scored 38 goals against the Canadiens, accounting for 4% of his career goal total. His overall record is the 12th best against any club in the league.

Related: Canadians looking for milestones in 2024-25

29 – Although 55% of his career points have come from goals, Ovechkin has 700 assists, 29 of them against Montreal, the 10th-best total against a single team.

26 – The Great 8 has scored 26 even-strength goals against Canadiens goaltenders, ranking 10th among all 31 teams.

22 – The winningest goalie in franchise history with the most games played, Carey Price has conceded the most goals to Ovechkin in a Canadiens sweater with 22.

22 – Ovechkin scored 22 home goals against the Canadiens, accomplishing the feat under three different arena names, including Verizon Center (10), Capitals One Arena (10) and MCI Center (two).

12 – Everyone knows that Ovechkin is one of the deadliest snipers on the power play, as he has made 36.4% of his career goals with the man advantage. He scored 12 points against Montreal, tied for 10th with the Blue Jackets, Panthers and Islanders.

7 – Seven Montreal goalies have been beaten by Ovechkin during her tenure with the club, led by Price with 22. Next are Cristobal Huet (six), Jake Allen (three), Sam Montembeault (two), Peter Budaj (two) and Jaroslav Halak (one) and Al Montoya (one).

Related: The Montreal Canadiens' 50-goal scorers

3 – Over the course of his career, Ovechkin has scored 31 hat tricks, including three against the Canadiens in 2008, 2017 and 2022. Interestingly, he has scored four goals in a game four times, with two games coming against Montreal on January 31, 2008 and 7. October 2017.

2 – Ovechkin is the game-winning scorer in the salary cap era with more than 30, but he only has two against Montreal. The Canadiens are one of 27 teams against whom the captain scored a game-winning goal.

1 – Of his 857 career goals, Ovechkin has scored 58 goals, including one against Montreal on December 28, 2010.

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