Alex Ovechkin of Capitals passes Wayne Gretzky as King King of the NHL

New York – Washington capital star Alex Ovechkin scored the goal n ° 895 on Sunday, passing the temple of renown Wayne Gretzky to become the leader of all time of the NHL.

Ovechkin scored the record against the New York Islanders with a power game goal with 12:34 to do in the second period of the Sunday match – the 1,487th match of his career, the same as the total career of Gretzky.

With Gretzky and the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the game stopped while the players and the fans celebrated the historic moment.

Ovechkin equaled the Gretzky record on Friday with two accounts in a 5-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. He chose not to go out on the ice after the Blackhawks pulled their goalkeeper at the end of the third for a possible hat trick, saying later: “I don’t want a empty net” when he sets the record.

Ovechkin’s pursuit of the record for goals of all time led his extraordinary career in the NHL 20 years old, all with Washington’s capital. He won the Rocket Richard trophy as a goal manager of the NHL regular season nine times. He captured the Hart trophy as the NHL MVP three times (2008, ’09, ’13) and the Conn Smythe trophy as an eliminatory MVP by leading the capital in their first Stanley Cup championship in 2018.

Ovechkin is the leader of all NHL times in the goals of the electricity game (325) and goals in overtime and exceeded Jarumir Jagr for most of the winning goals after the total with 136th Friday. He scored 50 more goals more than the temple of renown Dave Andreychuk, which is second of all time. More than 210 of Ovechkin’s goals were scored from the “Spot OVI” near the left -play circle, as it has become known.

Gretzky won the goal record on March 23, 1994 as a member of the Kings of Los Angeles. His career goal in career has exceeded the career mark of his idol Gordie Howe. The match against the Vancouver Canucks was arrested for a 15 -minute ceremony. Gretzky retired in 1999 with 894 goals in 1,487 games from the NHL regular season, a total career that little NHL thought never thought – until Ovechkin’s arrival.

“I always said that if there was a guy who could do it, it is him,” said the Center des Capitals Nicklas Backstrom, currently injured, who helped on more ovechkin lenses than any other teammate from 2007 to 2023. “Sometimes, it seems that the washer finds it, and he has this ability to put it in the net as anyone else.”

Capitals won the 2004 NHL recovery lottery to select Ovechkin Premier in the general classification. The native of Moscow won the Calder trophy as a recruit of the NHL year in 2005-2006 with 52 goals, while its dynamic personally revitalized the franchise. At the end of his 10th NHL season, not yet 30 years old, Ovechkin had raised 475 goals in 760 games.

Gretzky told NHL.com in 2016 only if Ovechkin suffered this rhythm “there was no question in my mind”, he could set a new record for career goals.

“The first 500 are the easiest,” said Gretzky. “It’s the next 500, when you get a little old and your body is a bit worn – the journey and the physical part of the game catches up with you.”

Ovechkin has entered this season needing 42 goals to spend Gretzky and has not waste time. The capital captain scored 15 goals in his first 18 games, the start of the most popular goals in his career and an unprecedented feat for a 39 -year -old man in the NHL. His season took an unexpected turn on November 18, when Ovechkin broke his left peon well in a match against Utah. But the “Russian machine”, as has been called for its endurance and good health, returned before the scheduled date – and scored a goal – on December 28, after missing 16 games.

Ovechkin disc hunt has captured the world of hockey in the last weeks of the regular season. He was marked “The Gr8 Chase” by the NHL. Game emissions have introduced alternative flows that focused only on Ovechkin. In Washington, DC, objective counters were added within Capital One Arena and Union Market District. Gretzky, Commissioner Gary Bettman, the owner of the capital Ted Leonsis and the wife of Ovechkin Nastya began to follow Arena’s team in Arena.

Ovechkin, on the other hand, used his record pursuit to collect funds for pediatric cancer research, giving an amount equal to his total objectives for each objective he marks during the rest of his career and encouraging fans to also contribute by option.