Alex Ovechkin to Play in His 1,500th Career Game on Saturday vs. Ottawa

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will play in his 1,500th career game on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators at Capital One Arena. Ovechkin will become the eighth player in NHL history to play 1,500 career games with one franchise, joining Gordie Howe, Patrick Marleau, Nicklas Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio, Shane Doan, Ray Bourque and Steve Yzerman.

Ovechkin, 40, has played in 1,499 of Washington’s 1,575 games (95.2 percent) since making his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2005. Fifty-one of Ovechkin’s 76 missed games during his 21-year career have been due to injury. Among the players who have appeared in 1,500 games with one franchise, Ovechkin’s 95.2 games played percentage at the 1,500-game mark will be the fourth highest (Lidstrom: 97.9%; Delvecchio: 97.3%; Howe: 97.3%).

The Capitals have a record of 829-487-183 (.614 point percentage) with Ovechkin in the lineup and a 36-35-5 record (.507 point percentage) in 76 games without him. Ovechkin’s 829 wins as a skater are the most among active players and the 11th most all-time.

Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, is currently tied with Mike Modano (1st overall in 1988) for the 24th most games played in NHL history. Once Ovechkin passes Modano, he will trail only Joe Thornton (1,714 GP) for the most games played by a No. 1 overall pick. Ovechkin will also become the second active player (Brent Burns: 1,505 GP) to reach the 1,500-game mark and the fourth European-born player, joining Jaromir Jagr (1,733 GP), Zdeno Chara (1,680 GP) and Lidstrom (1,564 GP).

Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time goals leader, has scored in 684 of his 1,499 games played (45.6%), the most games played with a goal in NHL history. Ovechkin’s 45.6 percent of games played with a goal is also the highest in League history (min. 1,000 GP).

Ovechkin (899g-731a–1,630p in 1,499 GP) enters Saturday’s game one goal shy of becoming the first player in NHL history to score 900 career goals. Ovechkin has a career goals-per-game rate of 0.60, which is tied with Wayne Gretzky (894g in 1,487 GP) for the highest in NHL history among players with 1,000 or more games played.