Alexander the Great has surpassed the Great One.
Alex Ovechkin is the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring king.
The Washington Capitals superstar scored his historic 895th career goal on Sunday against the New York Islanders, breaking the 26-year-old NHL record held by Wayne Gretzky since 1999. Ovechkin scored on a power play during the second period.
“I always said that if there’s any guy who could do it, it’s him,” said Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom, who is currently sidelined with an injury, who was his right-hand man, assisting on more Ovechkin goals than any other teammate from 2007 to 2023. “Sometimes, it just seems like the puck finds him, and he’s got that ability to put it in the net like no one else.”
Gretzky, who was in attendance at UBS Arena as Ovechkin broke his record, said on Friday that he was “very proud” after Ovechkin tied his record with a pair of goals against the Chicago Blackhawks. After Ovechkin broke the record on Sunday, Gretzky was one of a slew to congratulate Ovechkin and spoke during a short but sweet on-ice ceremony.
Ovechkin came into the 2024-25 season with his legend already intact with 853 career goals. After starting the season on fire with 15 goals in his first 18 games, his season was interrupted after a broken fibula suffered in November caused him to miss five weeks. He did not need much time at all to shake off any rust and get back in the swing of things, as he picked up right where he left off, resuming his chase of Gretzky with four goals in his first five games back from injury.
Another hot stretch beginning at the tail end of January saw Ovechkin take no prisoners and score seven times in seven games, which included his 33rd career NHL hat trick where you score three goals in a single game and his second this season.
As Ovechkin approached Gretzky’s hallowed mark, he added even more milestones to his Hall of Fame resume.
On February 25, Ovechkin scored his 30th goal of the year, the 19th time in his 20 NHL seasons where he scored at least 30 goals. He is only the fourth player age 39 or older to have a 30-goal season, joining three legends, Gordie Howe, Johnny Bucyk and Teemu Selanne.
Ovechkin’s 33rd goal of the season, on March 9 against the Seattle Kraken, made him the 10th member of the 1,600-point club with seventh to do so with a single NHL franchise after Howe, Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby and Joe Sakic.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL draft entered the league and immediately made his presence felt, scoring 52 goals during his first season and earning the 2005-06 Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie. Ovechkin has achieved the 50-goal mark nine times during his career and the 60-goal mark once. His natural ability to beat goaltenders on a regular basis has earned him the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies as the league’s top goal scorer in nine different seasons.
Ovechkin, meanwhile, used his record pursuit and platform to raise funds for a great cause, pediatric cancer research, donating an amount equal to his goal total for every goal he scores during the remainder of his career and encouraging fans and supporters to contribute on a per-goal basis as well.
