Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin has broken an NHL record that many thought was unbreakable.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record of 894 on Sunday afternoon. “The Great One” scored his final goal on March 29, 1999. “The Great Eight” has five more games before the end of the 2024-25 season to add to his now-record total.
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Ovechkin entered this season with 853 career NHL goals and started off red hot with 15 goals in his first 18 games. A broken fibula in November took him out of the lineup for almost five weeks, but when he returned to the Capitals he didn’t miss a beat with four goals in his first five games back from injury.
Ovechkin’s latest goal, No. 895 of his career, came against the New York Islanders on Sunday with Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance. Tickets for the game at the Islanders’ home rink at UBS Arena were going for over $600 in the lower bowl and at least $275 in the cheaper sections.
The game stopped to commemorate Ovechkin’s milestone achievement as both teams congratulated him on the ice.
The Capitals have five games remaining on their schedule after Sunday. He officially hit 894 goals in just one fewer regular season game (1,846) than Gretzky did.
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Gretzky and his family were in attendance to watch Ovechkin overtake his record.
“It’s just a matter of time, whether it’s late this year, early next year, whenever,” Gretzky told NHL.com earlier this season about Ovechkin’s chances of breaking his record. “I mean, he’s a great player. He’s a great goal scorer.”
As he moved toward Gretzky’s record, Ovechkin has partnered with Hockey Fights Cancer and the V Foundation for Cancer Research to launch “THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer.” The campaign will see Ovechkin donate a dollar amount equal to his career NHL goal total for each goal he scores for the rest of his career. Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Capitals, will match every donation.
NHL top-10 in career goals
1. Alex Ovechkin (895)
2. Wayne Gretzky (894)
3. Gordie Howe (801)
4. Jaromir Jagr (766)
5. Brett Hull (741)
6. Marcel Dionne (731)
7. Phil Esposito (717)
8. Mike Gartner (708)
9. Mark Messier (694)
10. Steve Yzerman (692)
Ovechkin in 2005. (Joel Richardson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Remaining 2024-25 regular-season games
Thu, Apr 10: vs. Carolina, 7:30 p.m. ET
Sat, Apr 12: at Columbus, 7 p.m. ET
Sun, Apr 13: vs. Columbus, 6 p.m. ET
Tue, Apr 15: at Islanders, 8 p.m. ET
Thu, Apr 17: at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET
Alex Ovechkin has scored on 180 different goaltenders since entering the NHL in 2005. (Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Jamie Sabau via Getty Images)
Ovechkin milestone goal timeline
No. 1: Oct. 2, 2005 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Pascal Leclaire)
No. 50: April 13, 2006 vs. Atlanta Thrashers (Mike Dunham)
No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 vs. New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist)
No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (Jonathan Quick)
No. 300: April 5, 2011 (James Reimer)
No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (empty net)
No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (Andrew Hammond)
No. 600: March 12, 2018 (Connor Hellebuyck)
No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (Mackenzie Blackwood)
No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (Petr Mrazek)
Hat tricks by season (32 career)
2005-06: 1
2006-07: 1
2007-08: 3
2008-09: 3
2009-10: 1
2010-11: 1
2011-12: 0
2012-13: 2
2013-14: 1
2014-15: 0
2015-16: 2
2016-17: 2
2017-18: 3
2018-19: 3
2019-20: 4
2020-21: 0
2021-22: 1
2022-23: 2
2023-24: 0
2024-25: 2