The Daily: Ovechkin’s Chase, Datsyuk’s Big Day

Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record has quietly been going on for years  now.

The pursuit is getting a little more noise now.

Ovechkin scored twice in Washington’s 8-1 win at St. Louis on Saturday, giving him 863 for his career and leaving him 31 behind Gretzky’s 894.

He’s on a pace to pass The Great One in late February. He has 10 goales in 14 game this season; last year he didn’t hit double-digits until Game 45.

At 39, Ovechkin’s scoring at an age when Gretzky was retired. But one Hall-of-Famer thinks the record will fall this year.

“I mean, he’s doing real well, so, yeah, (I’m) pulling for him,” Eric Lindros said after Sunday’s Hall of Fame Legends game in Toronto. “I think everyone’s pulling for him.”

If you’re  wondering about the speedy passage of time, there’s this: Lindros played against Ovechkin during the two seasons their careers overlapped. Lindros retired at age 34 in 2007.

The numbers tell a story, but hockey fans already know that Ovechkin’s one of the best to play the game.

Datsyuk was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame today. He was part of the Red Wings’ “Eurotwins” of a decade ago, along with Henrik Zetterberg, who says Datsyuk helped make him the player he was.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Speaking of Datsyuk, Bob Duff  wrote about the Red Wings legend recently prior to his induction and Datsyuk’s hope to be joined by Zetterberg in the Hall soon.

Behind the paywall: Sebastian Cossa is off to a hot start in Grand Rapids. Will that speed up the timeline for his arrival in Detroit?

Hockey Now Network

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who the Red Wings play on Wednesday, have gotten into the habit of coughing up two-goal leads. six of them already this season. That’s five more than any other team. Dan Kingerski has details.

The San J0se Sharks have been finding ways to win lately, despite allowing 40-plus shots the last two games.  Sheng Peng explains why.