Ovechkin opens up about possibly scoring #801 against the Red Wings.

There was little doubt in anyone's mind that, as Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin continued his ascent up the National Hockey League's All-Time goal scoring list that he would eventually reach Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe's total of 801 career goals in the NHL. What no one would have predicted however was that Ovechkin would get the chance to do so against Howe's former team, the Detroit Red Wings.

There is of course no guarantee that Ovechkin will score but tonight the Capitals forward will get the chance to do exactly that when he and the Capitals welcome the Red Wings to Capital One Arena in Washington. Ovechkin opened up about what it would mean to him to tie Howe against his former team on Monday when he spoke to reporters about what could end up being a storybook moment.

Ovechkin was first asked about having Goride's sons, Mark and Marty Howe, in attendance for the game this evening.

"It's great," said Ovechkin. "When we met last time he said when we going to be close if he have a chance they will come and watch the game and I hope it happens."

Ovechkin was also asked if he would like to score his 801st goal against the Red Wings, but he avoided putting too much pressure on himself.

"It would be nice obviously," said Ovechkin. "But you never know what's going to happen."

Ovechkin was asked about his relationship with Gordie Howe himself, and he admitted that he had only had the opportunity to meet the Red Wings legend once during an All-Star Game.

"I met him once," said Ovechkin. "It was an All-Star Game, it was obviously a long time ago, we talked about how different sticks are."

Ovechkin also revealed that he has an autographed picture of Gordie Howe in his memorabilia collection that he prizes highly, even over pieces of memorabilia he has pertaining to other sporting legends.

"Yeah it's probably my top thing in my collection," said Ovechkin. "Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky's stick, Mario Lemieux's stick, it's probably the top one."

Of course the Red Wings will do their best to keep Ovechkin off the score sheet tonight and by extension hold off him tying Howe's record for a little while longer. For Ovechkin's full comments on tonight's upcoming game you can take a listen below: