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Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record by scoring the 893rd and 894th goals of his career, the second the game winner, as the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Friday night.
Ovechkin scored No 894 on the power play with 13:47 left in regulation to put Washington ahead after Dylan Strome tied it earlier in the third period. The 39-year-old Russian superstar also opened the scoring with his 893rd less than four minutes into game.
It all came with Gretzky in attendance for the first time during the later stages of Ovechkin’s record chase. Gretzky should be there on Sunday at the New York Islanders when the 39-year-old Ovechkin has his next chance to make history.
The home crowd cheered wildly when Ovechkin equalled the record, and the player blew kisses to his family, who were also in attendance. At the next stoppage in play, the video screens showed footage from the star’s path towards the record.
Ovechkin’s teammates later mobbed him as the horn sounded to end the game. Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno led his team to congratulate the Capitals legend before heading off the ice. Ovechkin also skated around the ice and pounded his chest as he looked out at the fans.
“It means a lot,” he said on the team’s postgame show. “Right now, I’m so emotional. You never [think] you can reach that milestone.”
Gretzky had spoken to the crowd during the game’s first intermission and paid tribute to Ovechkin.
“I’m so proud of the fact that I’m here tonight,” Gretzky said. “The commissioner I talked to the other day, and Alex said don’t come here until I get to two. I thought yesterday, ‘Gosh, we better get on the plane and get up there because he might get three tonight.’ When he scored four minutes in I thought, ‘Oh my God, we might be able to leave after the first period.’”
Gretzky, considered the greatest hockey player of all time, held the record for 31 years since scoring his 802nd goal, breaking Gordie Howe’s mark, against the Vancouver Canucks in March 1994. In 20 NHL seasons, Gretzky needed 1,487 games to tally 894 goals. Ovechkin matched him in the 1,486th game of his career.
Ovechkin remains an elite scorer in the league even as he nears 40. Only two players (Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl with 52 and Toronto’s William Nylander with 42) entered Friday with 40 or more goals this season, Ovechkin has now reached that mark too. He has played in just 60 games this season, having missed 16 in November and December due to a broken leg.
