Alex Ovechkin passes Wayne Gretzky as a leader in the goals of all time in the NHL with n ° 895

Elmont, NY – For the 895th time in his NHL career, Alex Ovechkin scored a goal, then celebrated with his teammates.

No one in the history of professional hockey was better in either.

The Washington capital superstar, a unique merger of incomprehensible skills, unusual coherence and without restraint, broke the career record of Wayne Gretzky for the goals on Sunday at UBS Arena.

Ovechkin scored on the power game 7:26 in the second period to reduce the Washington deficit to 2-1. Ovechkin beat the goalkeeper of the Icelanders Ilya Sorokin on a shot from the top of the left circle after a pass from Tom Wilson, then, while the crowd is unleashed, Ovechkin plunged to the ice and slipped towards the central ice before getting up and being assailed by teammates.

Alex Ovechkin is the biggest scorer in NHL history! 🚨🚨🚨 # Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/nkef3vvnaj

– NHL (@nhl) April 6, 2025

After the slowdown in the celebration after the goal and Ovechkin was congratulated by members of the two teams, the carpets were deployed for a ceremony that included Ovechkin’s wife, her two sons and his mother, as well as Gretzky, Commissioner Gary Bettman and others.

“What day, huh?” said Ovechkin, who focused on thanking his teammates and family during brief comments. “We did it, the boys. It’s story. “

Bettman began the ceremony and said: “We have all witnessed history. Wayne, you will always be “the big one”, and you had a record that no one ever thought was broken. But, Alex, you did. You were incredible.

Gretzky followed and said: “I know how difficult it is to go to 894 – 895 is quite special.… They say that the records are intended to be beaten, but I don’t know who will get more objectives than that.”

Listen to the big 8 after having cemented in the history of the NHL. 🎤 # Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/mis7sti1lb

– NHL (@nhl) April 6, 2025

Before the speeches, a video played on the table of UBS Arena, with tributes of sports legends such as LeBron James and Michael Phelps.

The whole moment testified to two things: long -term and long -term relentless production of Ovechkin and its finishing kick at the end of their short -term career which has electrified sport, taking one of its greatest records held by its greatest player and, in a way, making it feel bigger.

Ovechkin’s career began in 2005 – a year after the Capitals drafted it n ° 1 – with a match of two goals against the Blue Jackets of Columbus and a recruited season of 52 goals. In the 19 years that followed, he won three Hart trophies as a most useful player and a Smythe Conn Trophy as MVP of the playoffs when Washington won the Stanley Cup. He led the League in goals nine times. He established an overwhelming number of records, including (just Friday) the most winning goals in the NHL history. He married his wife, Nastya, and became the father of two sons, Sergei and Ilya. Her hair has become gray.

Through all this, he never stopped scoring. He has 14 seasons of 40 goals, including three after his 35th birthday. At his peak, he was from another world. In his twilight, he found a means – and although his skating has decreased, his shot did not. The ability to put rings in the net, through a combination of brute force and precision, is entirely intact.

“In the end, he still scores goals,” Lars Eller said on a longtime teammate on Friday. “It’s impressive and it’s inspiring for other guys who are younger to say:” If he can do it, why can’t I continue to do what I do as long as him? ” It’s inspiring and it makes the bar high.

“He has won all the trophies you can win. He won a Smythe Conn. He won a cup. And he wants even more. “

All of this helped Ovechkin to gain the opportunity to go beyond the record for career objectives, which seemed inaccessible when Gretzky retired in 1999. Then Ovechkin seized him. Since his return to the programming of a broken leg on December 28, Ovechkin has scored 26 goals in 42 games – a rate of 50 goals. Six came in the last five games only, each more consecutive than the previous one.

Friday, with Ovechkin in a hat turn far from the installation of the record, Gretzky began to follow the capital in anticipation of n ° 895. In Washington, he watched Ovechkin score twice to shoot. Right now, Ovechkin lost to the rest of Gretzky to Capital One Arena. Later in the night, after a celebration behind closed doors and soaked in beer in the capital’s changing rooms, the two sat for a joint press conference.

“It was only a champion,” said Gretzky, “and I’m so proud that we are linked. I can live with that for 24 hours more.”

In Long Island, Gretzky watched Ovechkin move forward. The objective brought one of its banges marking brands to a historical conclusion and, once again, emptied the Capitals bench in celebration.

As the party took place, coach Spencer Carbery radiated. He was born in 1981, which brings him closer to a 39 -year -old winger that the vast majority of the list of capital. It also means that when it all started for Ovechkin in Washington in 2005, Carbery was not a child – he was a NCAA hockey player. And he was taking notes.

From the jump, Carbery said on Friday, a particular element of the Ovechkin experience appeared a little more than the others.

“You saw the goal of the goal and the shooting,” said Carbery. “But I think that the uniqueness of him, and what has always been removed was hunger and passion and fire to mark. It was different. He looked different when you saw the strong moments and you saw his reaction and how he celebrated. Whether it is a 2-1 goal or whether it was a goal in the Stanley Cup final, everything looked the same.

“And so when you look at hockey all your life, when you see it react to the score – many players even talk about it. They have never seen someone who celebrates and likes to mark like Alex Ovechkin.”

And now they have never seen someone who has marked more.

(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)