Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin scores 500th career goal, fifth fastest player to do so

WASHINGTON – Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored his 500th career NHL goal on Sunday – making him the fifth fastest player in league history to hit the milestone.

The goal, his 25th of the season, came late in second period while on the power play in Washington’s home game against the Ottawa Senators.

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The 30-year-old sniper hit the mark in his 801st NHL game, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (575 games), Mario Lemieux (605), Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (693) as the quickest to reach the 500-goal plateau.

Ovechkin has six 50-goal seasons since entering the NHL in 2005-06 and scored a career-high 65 goals in the 2007-08 season.

The Moscow native is also the NHL’s leader in career goals by a Russian-born player, a mark he set on Nov. 19, 2015 against the Dallas Stars.