WASHINGTON 鈥� Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin 聽tied Sergei Fedorov on Saturday for the most goals scored in the NHL by a Russian-born player.
Ovechkin recorded his team-leading eighth goal of the season and the 483rd of his career in the second period of Saturday鈥檚 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 聽He also聽scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lift Washington to a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Leafs.
鈥淥bviously a huge honor,鈥� Ovechkin said ahead of Saturday鈥檚 game when asked about approaching the record. 鈥淭o pass all the great names in Russian hockey and to be number one, it鈥檚 huge.鈥�
Ovechkin and Fedorov were briefly teammates in Washington from 2008鈥�09.
鈥淚 had the huge privilege to play with him and had the luck to be on the same team and same line. He was the best teammate I had.鈥�
Fedorov, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, had 483 goals in 1,248 career games. Ovechkin scored his 483rd goal in career game No. 772.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty outstanding,鈥� Capitals head coach Barry Trotz said at the Capitals鈥� morning skate Saturday. 鈥淎nd he鈥檚 doing it in an era where it鈥檚 harder to score. When I see those numbers that鈥檚 what blows me away. Knowing how great Sergei was as a player, that鈥檚 pretty outstanding.鈥�
