No. 8 is now No. 1.
Alex Ovechkin moved into the top spot on the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring list when he scored the 895th of his career at 7:26 of the second period for the Washington Capitals in their game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.
With the Islanders leading 2-0 and New York’s Casey Cizikas in the penalty box for tripping, Ovechkin took a pass from Tom Wilson and scored the record-setting goal the way he’s scored so many others – on a power-play one-timer from the top of the left circle. It was the 325th power-play goal of his career, also an NHL record, and ended up being Washington’s lone goal in a 4-1 Islanders win.
No. 895 moved Ovechkin one ahead of Wayne Gretzky, who was on hand to see his record broken – just as he was at Capital One Arena on Friday when Ovi scored twice to tie No. 99’s record in Washington’s 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Ovechkin’s record-setting goal came in his 1,487th regular-season game, the same number that Gretzky played.
The sellout crowd of 17,255 erupted as Ovechkin’s shot zipped past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin, and No. 8 slid on his belly toward center ice, where he was mobbed by his teammates. The game stopped and the Capitals’ bench quickly emptied to celebrate the record-setter — the Islanders also formed a handshake line to congratulate him. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was on the ice to congratulate Ovechkin, who also got a hug from Gretzky.
“We have all just witnessed history,” Bettman said. “Wayne, you’ll always be ‘The Great One,’ and you had a record that nobody thought ever could be broken. But, Alex, you did it. You have been amazing. You have been the consummate player, representing the NHL extraordinarily on and off the ice.”
Ovechkin also hugged Sorokin, who had not given up a goal to his fellow Russian in their three previous meetings and became the 183rd goalie to surrender at least one tally to Ovi.
“We did it!,” a jubilant Ovechkin said. Turning to his teammates, the coaches and the team’s support staff, he added, “I’ve always said this is a team game. Thank you, fellas.”
Gretzky scored the final goal of his career for the New York Rangers against the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 1999. Few people in and out of hockey believed his record would ever be broken.
“I know how hard it is to get to 894; 895 is pretty special,” said Gretzky, who broke Gordie Howe’s record of 801 goals on March 23, 1994, when he scored his 802nd against the Vancouver Canucks. That was 31 years and 14 days ago, the longest anyone in NHL history has held the goal-scoring mark. “They say records are meant to be broken, but I’m not sure who is going to get more goals than that.”
When they spoke at the Capitals bench before play resumed, Gretzky told Ovechkin, “Get to 900.”
Ovechkin scores goal No. 895, passes Gretzky for NHL record
The No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft has been almost unstoppable since coming to the NHL in the fall of 2005 – and scoring two goals in his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Friday’s two goals gave him 41, extending his NHL-record total of 40-goal seasons to 14. He also owns the League record for 30-goal seasons with 19, and he shares the mark for 50-goal seasons with Gretzky and Mike Bossy; each has nine.
By the end of his 10th NHL season, having yet to turn 30, Ovechkin had scored 475 goals in 760 games. Amazingly, Ovi would be in the top 100 NHL goal-scorers of all time with only the goals he’s scored since turning 30. Sunday’s goal was his 420th since that date; Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Barber is 95th on the all-time list with 420.
Ovechkin also owns the NHL record for overtime goals (27), as well as for empty-net goals with 65; Gretzky is next with 56.
However, with the Caps leading 4-3 on Friday and Hawks goalie Spencer Knight on the bench for an extra attacker, Ovechkin passed up the opportunity to break Gretzky’s record by scoring into the empty net – ironically, Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard, who had signed with the team earlier in the week, hit the empty net instead for his first NHL goal. He could be seen on the bench saying he didn’t want to take the ice without a goalie in the opposition net.
“He doesn’t want to go out and score on an empty net to break the record, and I appreciate that,” coach Spencer Carbery said before Sunday’s game. “We have six games left; he wants to break the record and have that moment be where he shoots a puck past a goalie. And I have a lot of appreciation for that.”
Ovechkin has used his pursuit of the goal-scoring record to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. He is donating an amount equal to his goal total for each goal he scores during the rest of his NHL career, as well as encouraging fans to donate on a per-goal basis.