On Tuesday at TD Garden, fans in Boston saw Alex Ovechkin notch goal No. 891, just five days before he broke the NHL career goals record with 895, snapping a tie with Wayne Gretzky, who was in the stands on Long Island to celebrate the moment with him.
Seeing Ovechkin score a goal this season or in any other is not a rare occurrence, obviously, but doing it against the Bruins has been a lot more unusual. In fact the Bruins have been comparatively very good at slowing both Ovechkin and Gretzky over their respective careers.
Here’s how Boston has done against Ovechkin, Gretzky and Gordie Howe:
Alex Ovechkin
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates after scoring his 895th career goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)AP
Despite scoring No. 891 against the Bruins on Tuesday, historically, goals haven’t come easy — at least by Ovechkin standards — against Boston compared to his other opponents.
The Russian star has 20 goals (3.3 percent of his total) in 69 games against the Bruins, who are one of just three teams he’s shot less than 10% against. His 9.7 shooting percentage vs. Boston is better than only his 9.6% in 27 games against Dallas and 7.6% in 26 games against the Arizona Coyotes.
Over the 1,487 games in his career, he’s averaged .602 goals per game against everyone. The Bruins, however, have held him to .435 goals per game. If that was his average against the entire NHL, he’d have just 646 goals, which would put him just 14th all-time, one slot below Brendan Shanahan.
Wayne Gretzky
FILE – Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky, left, and New York Islanders Denis Potvin (5) jostle for a loose puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., March 26, 1988. (AP Photo/Wa Funches)AP
Gretzky played against the Bruins 53 times for four different teams. During the height of his considerable powers, Boston deployed Steve Kasper to shadow the Great One. Kasper, who’d go on to coach the Bruins, handled the assignment better than most.
Gretzky scored just 25 goals (2.8 percent of his total) against Boston. He shot just 16.7 percent against the Bruins, which was 14th among his opponents.
He averaged .602 goals per game against the entire NHL, but just .472 goals per game against the Bruins. If the rest of the league “contained” Gretzky as well as Boston over his 1,487 career games, he’d have had just 701 career goals, which would have left him eighth, one spot behind Mike Gartner (708).
His last goal against Boston was No. 883.
The Bruins even slowed Gretzky’s passing. The NHL’s all-time leader in the category (by over 700) averaged 1.32 assists per game in his career (1,963 in 1,487 games).
But Gretzky had just 48 assists in 53 games against Boston, an average of .905 per game.
Gordie Howe
California Seals goalie Charlie Hodge, left, knocks the puck away as Detroit Red Wings’ star Gordie Howe tries a shot on goal(AP Photo/Preston Stroup, File)AP
It’s harder to put Gordie Howe’s numbers in perspective for a few reasons. The league was in some flux. In addition to expansion and contraction, Howe played in the rival WHA for parts of six seasons and then finished his career in the NHL at age 52 for the Hartford Whalers.
Mr. Hockey played over 300 games against the each of other five Original Six franchises and no more than 30 games against anyone else.
With all those caveats in place, Howe had 148 of his 801 goals against the Bruins. That’s the second most of any team, just ahead of the Rangers (144) and behind the Blackhawks (169).
He averaged .467 goals per game vs. Boston (vs. .453 vs. the entire NHL in his career). If he’d averaged that over his entire career, he’d have scored 824 goals, which would still have him third.
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