Alex Ovechkin has surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals scored in NHL history with the 895th goal of his career. The Washington Capitals’ captain made history on Sunday against the New York Islanders by beating fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin on a power play with 12:34 left in the second period. He fired a laser past Sorokin after receiving a perfect pass from his longtime teammate Tom Wilson. As the many Capitals fans who had traveled to New York for the game chanted, “Ovi!,” he jumped onto the ice to celebrate. Ovi!” from the stands
As they did when he scored No. 894, teammates surrounded the 39-year-old Ovechkin to celebrate the achievement, which overtook a 31-year-old record. Following that, Ovechkin gave a bench hug to the Capitals staff and coaches, followed by a handshake with the Islanders as crew members set up for the celebration ceremony. Opening the festivities, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated, “Wayne, you’ll always be the “Great One” and you had a record that nobody ever thought would be broken.” But you did it, Alex. You’ve been fantastic.”
Gretzky thanked Ovechkin and his family for their success and said, “They say records are made to be broken, but I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that.” With Gretzky, wife Janet, Bettman, and Ovechkin’s wife, mother, and two sons standing nearby, Ovechkin addressed the crowd and said: “I’ve always said, all the time, it’s a team sport … I sincerely appreciate it, gentlemen. I adore you to the hilt. For a long time, Gretzky’s 894 goals seemed out of reach. Ovechkin passed it despite missing 16 games in November and December with a broken leg, demonstrating his endurance and ability to consistently score for two decades. He scored 40 goals for the 14th time this season, two more than Gretzky and the most in league history. Ovechkin held the NHL records for power-play goals, shots on goal, and the most goalies he had to beat before this, and now he has added Sorokin to that list. Only Gretzky has more multi-goal games, and Ovechkin earlier this season became just the sixth player with 700 goals and 700 assists, joining Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne, and Phil Esposito.
Ovechkin’s native Russia, where billboards and goal-counters cheered on and tracked his effort, became the focus of the chase by the Great 8, a nickname based on his jersey number. It helped Ovechkin that his team is one of the best in the NHL this season, defying expectations.
When Gretzky scored 802 on March 23, 1994, he surpassed Howe’s record by a little more than 31 years. He played 1,487 more games before retiring in 1999 after 20 seasons and a total of 92. Gretzky holds 55 NHL records, two of which appear to be unbreakable: 2,857 total points and 1,963 assists, which are more than any other player’s combined total of goals and assists. Even though Ovechkin holds this record, the Canadian has expressed excitement about it. For NHL playoff goals, which do not count toward the record, Gretzky has the most (122). 72 are Ovechkin’s. Gretzky also had another 56 in the World Hockey Association regular season and playoffs, while Ovechkin has 57 from his time in the KHL, Russia’s top league.
Returning to Russia to play in front of family and friends is an option at some point for Ovechkin, who has one season left after this one on the five-year, $47.5m contract he signed in 2021, which took him through age 40 to give him enough time to chase Gretzky’s record. Instead, he got it done earlier than just about anyone could have realistically expected.
