No one ever thought that the NHL goal record could be beat. On March 29, 1999, Wayne Gretzky scored his 894th and final goal, in a match against the New York Islanders, during his 1,487th game. Little did he and the world know that just over 26 years later, in the same amount of career games played, Alex Ovechkin would break his legendary record. 

Alex Ovechkin is undoubtedly one of the greatest hockey players of all time, and this record is only a greater argument for that. Drafted by the Washington Capitals in 2004, he has won the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) three times, and was named team captain in 2010. He has led the Caps to the Stanley Cup playoffs multiple times, and defeated the Vegas Golden Knights to win it all back in 2018, winning MVP of the playoffs as well. 

Known for his powerful one-timer slapshot coming from the left faceoff circle, Ovi now holds the record for the most NHL goals of all time. He scored his 895th goal on April 6th while playing the New York Islanders, just as Gretzky did for the last game of his career, and scored on Ilya Sorokin for the first time. He celebrated his historic goal by sliding across the ice on his stomach, before getting tackled by the rest of the team, in true Ovi fashion. Wayne Gretzky himself was in attendance, sporting a #9 pin to represent NHL scoring legend Gordie Howe. 

With the immense success of the Capitals so far this season, another Stanley Cup win isn’t out of the picture for the team. Surrounded by players such as Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson, Ovechkin isn’t alone in his greatness. Notably, Boston College’s Ryan Leonard recently signed a rookie contract with the Capitals, and scored his first NHL goal on the same night that Ovi tied Gretzky’s record. Even when Ovi does inevitably retire, the Caps will still be left in good hands, and are already building up their next generation of players.