The Great Eight has topped The Great One.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin set the NHL record for career goals when he scored No. 895 Sunday afternoon against the New York Islanders to pass Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.
He scored on the power play, ripping a shot by Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin at 7:26 of the second period, for the 325th power play goal of his career. Longtime teammate and fellow 2018 Stanley Cup winner Tom Wilson had the primary assist.
Ovechkin slid on the ice in celebration, let out a big roar and teammates mobbed him.
‘I’m probably going to need a couple more days, a couple more weeks to realize what it means to be No. 1,’ he told reporters after the game, ‘but I’m proud for myself, I’m proud for my family and for all my teammates that helped me reach that milestone and for all my coaches. It’s huge.’
Gretzky scored his final NHL goal in March 1999 against the Islanders. Ovechkin’s record-breaker happened on the 45th anniversary of Gordie Howe’s 801st and final goal, which stood as the record until Gretzky passed him in 1994. It also happened 21 years to the day that the Capitals won the draft lottery for the right to select Ovechkin.
Play was stopped as Gretzky, commissioner Gary Bettman, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, Ovechkin’s family and others came out on the ice for a ceremony in which Ovechkin was gifted a painting. Bettman, Gretzky and Ovechkin spoke.
Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals was considered unbreakable when he retired at age 38 in 1999. Ovechkin wouldn’t be drafted until 2004 as the first overall pick and he wouldn’t make his debut until 2005 because of a season-long lockout.
He scored twice in his NHL debut and had 52 goals that year, some of them jaw-dropping, and edged Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for rookie of the year.
Ovechkin vs. Gretzky
Gretzky, a 185-pound Canadian center, was an exceptional playmaker who also scored a lot because of his ability to anticipate plays. Ovechkin, a 240-pound Russian winger, is a physical specimen. He would dole out hits, never gave up on a puck and had a one-timer that was hard to stop.
Center Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on 279 Ovechkin goals, said the winger has a bigger ‘sweet spot’ than other players, which allowed him to get a shot off at many different angles.
‘Sometimes it seems that the puck just finds him,’ Backstrom told reporters last month. ‘He’s got that ability to put the puck in the net like nobody else.’
Gretzky scored a record-shattering 92 goals in 1981-82 with the high-flying Edmonton Oilers, then followed with 71, 87 and 73. Ovechkin’s best season was 65 in his third season but his consistency is what put him over the top. He led the league in goals nine times, and this month he passed Howe’s record of 415 goals after turning 30.
In the beginning of last season, it looked like Ovechkin might be slipping as he scored just nine goals through the end of January. But he scored 22 goals after vacationing during the All-Star break, making this record possible.
This season, he got off to a torrid start with 15 goals in 18 games but suffered a fractured left fibula during a Nov. 18 game. It cost him 16 games. He has scored 27 times in 43 games since he returned on Dec. 28 to give him 42 goals this season, third best in the league.
Ovechkin, 39, will build on his record because he has another year left on his contract.
He showed you can never call a record unbreakable, but his goal-scoring accomplishment will be hard to eclipse.
‘They say records are made to be broken, but I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that,’ Gretzky said in Sunday’s on-ice ceremony.
