Pastrnak impressed with Ovechkin's consistency on cusp of goal record

BOSTON -- Their names will be forever linked: Alex Ovechkin, 48 goals. David Pastrnak, 48 goals.

It was exactly what Pastrnak wanted.

Not that there wouldn't have been some bragging rights about beating Ovechkin for the 2019-20 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, given annually to the NHL's top goal-scorer. But Pastrnak, the Boston Bruins forward, was more than content to share.

"I always said I was so much happier to, honestly, win the Rocket Richard with him than alone," Pastrnak said Tuesday. "And that's true, honest speaking that I was much happier that we shared it together. It was 10 times better than winning it alone and having him behind me.

"The only bad thing is you can say you beat him, but I'd rather share it with him. That was special."

It marked the first time in a decade that the award had been shared, with Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning doing so in 2009-10, when each scored 51 goals.

It's an award that Ovechkin has won nine times in his career, en route to the cusp of becoming the NHL's all-time leading goal-scorer. He scored his 890th goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, setting up a chance to advance toward Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 when he and the Washington Capitals visit the Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, NESN, TVAS2, SN1).

Pastrnak has won the award just once; he scored 61 goals in 82 games in 2022-23, but Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers won the Richard Trophy with 64 goals.

"It's very, very impressive," Pastrnak said, of Ovechkin's ability to score. "Obviously we all know how hard it is to score in this league, and he's been doing it for over two decades. The way he found a way every year, he scores different goals, you obviously see way less one-timer goals from him, guys taking it away and he still found a way. So, it's impressive.

"It's motivational to see him keep scoring all those goals. Definitely a special goal-scorer. He's going to break it soon."

Pastrnak has scored 383 goals in the NHL, fourth since 2016-17 behind Ovechkin (365), Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers (377) and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs (397). The 28-year-old said he first became aware of Ovechkin when the Capitals captain played for Russia, the easiest way to see top hockey players from Pastrnak's native Czechia.

"I watched him a lot growing up," Pastrnak said. "All the national teams, right? For a kid, it's hard to follow the NHL. I know he represented his country every time. From early ages, you kind of knew about him and you saw all these highlight-reel goals. He is still a special player to follow and watch his highlights."

Pastrnak came to the NHL at the age of 18 in 2014-15, desperately in need of added strength and bulk. He found it as his career advanced. But he always admired Ovechkin, not just for his goal-scoring ability, but also for other aspects he brought to the game.

"I always loved his physicality," Pastrnak said. "Obviously he's a big, heavy guy (6-foot-3, 238 pounds). … When the best player like him on your team brings that, that carries a long way for your team. That's what I admire about him, outside of all his goals."

Joe Sacco, the Bruins interim coach, has seen Ovechkin from a different vantage. As a longtime assistant in Boston, Sacco always faced a challenge against the Capitals and Ovechkin.

"Working in this league for a while now and having the opportunity to oversee the penalty kill a lot of those years, some nightmares for sure with him on the power play," Sacco said.

Ovechkin has 59 points (29 goals, 30 assists) in 68 career games against the Bruins.

He has a chance to add to that Tuesday as he moves toward history.

"I think that's the one thing that jumps out to me is his consistency and the ability to still be able to produce after all these years, knowing that you put a game plan in place to try to stop that," Sacco said. "So, it says a lot, obviously, about the individual.

"It's an incredible milestone that he's trying to get to here. But [what's impressive is] the ability just to adapt over all these years because you're always looking at the players on the other team, what you can do to prevent them from scoring, especially the top guys. And the great ones still find a way to get it done."