Alex Ovechkin breaks NHL record for most goals scored with 874th career goal – overtime game winner against Ottawa’s Leevi Merilainen

Alex Ovechkin made NHL history in the Washington Capitals’ 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. And Ovi did it the only way he knows how: when the lights are brightest.

Ovechkin beat the Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen 3:07 into overtime for career goal number 874. With this goal, Ovechkin broke Jaromir Jagr’s record for most goals scored in NHL history as Merilainen was the 179th different goaltender Ovechkin found a salary on. The goal was also Ovechkin’s 27th career overtime game-winning goal, the most of all time.

So to summarize: Ovi broke an NHL record by extending another. We are living in historic times.

Ovechkin scored after the Capitals lost a faceoff in the offensive zone and things looked dire. With the game tied 0-0 due to sudden death, the Senators’ Jake Sanderson beat Ovechkin and drove to the Capitals’ end on an odd-man rush. As Sanderson looked to make a play, Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin stole the puck, propelling the Capitals into a two-on-one.

Sandin then threw a dish to Ovi and with a rolling puck, The Great 8 fired a shot past Merilainen’s top shelf. Ovechkin’s game-winning goal came 19 years to the day after he scored The Goal on January 16, 2005 against the Phoenix Coyotes. A small group of fans at the Canadian Tire Center could be heard chanting “Ovi!” as the Capitals captain celebrated with his teammates.

“Obviously, just try to carry it into the zone and give it to O,” Sandin said. “Usually good things can happen.”

“I knew I should take a chance as soon as possible because I thought maybe he thought maybe I’m going to pass it on to Sandy,” Ovechkin said. “It was a good movie, and it got in, so I’ll take it.”

The Senators’ Finnish goaltender kept the Capitals completely away in regulation, but called Ovechkin’s overtime goal a disappointing finish. “Oh, you have to know when he’s on the ice,” Merilainen said of Ovi. “He’s going to film everything like he did today. And yes.

During his 20-year NHL career, Ovechkin scored against five different Hockey Hall of Fame goaltenders who won six Stanley Cups in total. Henrik Lundqvist, Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur, Dominique HasekAnd Ed Belfour. Ovi also shook the string against 15 of his past or current Capitals teammates, including Lundqvist, Christophe Huet, Craig Anderson, Tomas Vokoun, Olaf Kolzig, Jaroslav Halak, Brent Johnson, Jose Theodore, Justin Peters, Semyon Varlamov, Darcy Kuemper, Philip Grubauer, Logan Thompson, Phoenix CopleyAnd Ilia Samsonov. Ovi scored goals against a pair of father and son goalkeepers – although the father was beaten when Ovi played in the Russian Super League. The goaltender Ovechkin terrorizes the most is future first-ballot Hall of Famer, Marc-André Fleury. Ovechkin, likely in his final game against the MAF, beat the former first overall pick for the 28th time in a 4-3 shootout loss for the Capitals. Ovechkin also scored on 11 of the same goalies Gretzky scored against. Incredibly, as of March 31, 2023, only 23 goaltenders have faced an Ovechkin shot and not given up a goal to him.

“It’s pretty cool,” Ovechkin said of the record. “When you play 20 years, if you get the opportunity, you will take it.”

Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery flashed a big smile and seemed incredulous when he learned how many goalies were beaten by Ovechkin.

“We’re going to be able to do it – just the accolades and the different parts of this record will only be about a 10-page essay on it,” Carbery said. “So most goalies, yeah, I mean it’s not surprising, he has empty nets, you just keep ticking boxes about his remarkable career and his goals on different guys and in different buildings and against every team – it’s remarkable what he does.”

Ovechkin is now 20 goals behind Gretzky for a share of the NHL goals record of 894 and 21 to hold the record on his own.

With his 21st goal in 29 games, Ovechkin is on pace to score 48 goals this season and break Gretzky’s record by the end of the season. With his current .724 goals per game average, Ovechkin would tie Gretkzy at 894 on March 30 against Buffalo and score No. 1, 895 on April 1 in Boston.

View from 114, row A! pic.twitter.com/cgN8IwIZpv

– James T. Paterson (@jtpaterson) January 17, 2025

“We’re lucky to have him,” Sandin concluded.