Washington Capitals’ forward Alex Ovechkin made history Sunday, scoring the 895th goal of his career against the New York Islanders and passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL regular-season goals record.
Ovechkin achieved the feat in the second period, scoring his 42nd goal of the season.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin tied Gretzky’s record Friday night when the Capitals hosted the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring two goals and helping lead Washington to a 5-3 win.
Through 20 NHL seasons, all with Washington, Ovechkin has recorded nine 50-goal campaigns and has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy nine times, awarded to the player with the most goals during an NHL regular season.
Ovechkin has hit the 40-goal mark in a single season 14 times, which is an NHL record. He’s also the second-oldest player to record 40 goals in a single season, with Gordie Howe being the oldest to do it at 40 years old in 1968-69 with the Detroit Red Wings.
Ovechkin now has 895 goals and 724 assists for 1,619 points in 1,486 career NHL games. Nicknamed “The Great 8” in reference to his jersey number, the Russian winger was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
Gretzky broke the previous NHL regular-season goals record of 801 set by Gordie Howe. On March 23, 1994, as a member of the Los Angeles Kings, Gretzky scored his 802nd career goal against the Vancouver Canucks.
Gretzky went on to score 894 goals and 1,963 assists for 2,857 points in 20 seasons with the Kings, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers.
