Ovechkin leads the NHL with 38 goals as he pursues his seventh Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. Ovechkin, who is four goals shy of 600 in his career, aims to become just the second player in NHL history to finish a season with the most goals at least seven times (Hull: 7x).
Ovechkin is being chased by 11 players who are within 10 goals of him, including seven other 30-goal scorers. The last season to feature at least eight 30-goal scorers at the three-quarter mark was 2009-10 (also eight players through 923 GP).
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, who has 76 points (36 goals, 40 assists) has three points in three of his past four games to move into second in the League in both goals and points. He is one of two active NHL players with multiple Art Ross Trophies (teammate Sidney Crosby).
Six of the top 10 in points have never won a scoring title, including Flyers forward Claude Giroux (74 points, 22 goals, 52 assists), Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau (73 points, 20 goals, 53 assists) and Jets forward Blake Wheeler (72 points, 18 goals, 54 assists), who rank third through fifth, respectively. No player from the Flyers or Jets/Thrashers franchise has ever won the scoring title.
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (71 points, 27 goals, 44 assists) ranks sixth as he aims to defend his scoring title, a feat not accomplished since Jaromir Jagr won four in a row from 1997-98 through 2000-01.