Fleury thinks Ovechkin will break record this year: 'He's really hungry'

Alex Ovechkin needs six goals in his final 11 games to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time record this season, and Marc-Andre Fleury is confident he'll get it done.

"I think he's going to break the record this year," the veteran goaltender said, per LNH.com's JF Chaumont. "He reminds me of young Ovi. He's really hungry, he wants to score goals. He's so happy after his goals. Without his injury, he would've finished the season with 50 goals. It's incredible. He always plays with his foot on the gas. He's a tremendous competitor."

Ovechkin has scored 36 goals in 55 games this season. He missed 16 contests earlier in the campaign with a broken leg, but hasn't skipped a beat since returning.

If anyone knows how difficult it is to stop Ovechkin, it's Fleury. The Minnesota Wild goaltender has allowed 28 goals to the superstar in his career, the most of any netminder. Most of those goals, of course, came during Fleury's tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins when he was in the same division as Ovechkin's Washington Capitals.

"On the power play, Ovi is still always in the same spot," Fleury said. "He has such a heavy shot. It's so hard to read his slappers, and there's never a bad pass for him with his one-timers. He brings the puck in, no matter where the pass comes from. I'd say that his shot is still really hard to predict. He also has a big wrister; it's powerful, but the puck rises quickly as well."

Fleury joked that he gave Ovechkin "a bit of a boost" toward chasing the record.

The Capitals will face the Wild on Thursday. However, it's unlikely Fleury, who's retiring at the end of the season, will get one last crack at facing Ovechkin. Fleury started Minnesota's last game, a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Filip Gustavsson, meanwhile, has been red-hot, with a .939 save percentage in seven consecutive starts before the loss to Vegas.