Capitals' Ovechkin Seeking 6th 50-Goal Season of Career

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin enters Tuesday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes needing just one more goal to reach 50 in a season for the sixth time in his 10-year career, per Sportsnet Stats.

With the Capitals still having another five games to play after Tuesday's contest, the 29-year-old Russian is an excellent bet to reach the milestone.

It helps that the Caps are still competing with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders to earn home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, as Ovechkin is unlikely to be rested for more than one game.

Following a bit of a down period that saw him score just 32 goals over 79 games in 2010-11, followed by 38 goals over 78 games in 2011-12, Ovechkin has bounced back to his usual level of production in the past three seasons.

He managed an NHL-best 32 goals during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, then led the league with 51 goals last season.

Ovechkin is a safe bet to finish atop the league leaderboard for a third consecutive year, as second-place Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning only has 40 goals this season.

This will mark Ovechkin's fifth season leading the NHL in goals, with the feat previously accomplished in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

He scored a career-best 65 goals in 2007-08, giving him one of the NHL's two 60-goal seasons since Mario Lemieux scored 69 in 1995-96. The other belongs to Stamkos, who had exactly 60 goals in 2011-12.