It’s been a long time coming, but Alex Ovechkin can finally call himself the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with number 895 on Sunday.
The 39-year-old overtook Wayne Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals after scoring on the power play in the second period of the Washington Capitals game against the New York Islanders on Sunday in Elmont, New York.
Ovechkin rocketed a wrist shot past goalie and fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin as the left winger’s family and Gretzky looked on at a UBS Arena. It was a power play goal, which was fitting – no one in NHL history has ever scored more power play goals than the Russian ace.
Ovechkin netted his 42nd tally of the season, which is the third most in the league as Washington trails 2-1.
The game paused after Ovechkin’s goal for a ceremony to recognize his achievement.
In his 20th NHL season, many had been waiting for him to overtake the record this year. The Russian finally did so having played the same amount of games — 1,487 — that Gretzky managed during his 21-year career.
While many had expected Ovechkin to break the record this season, the broken fibula he sustained in November delayed his march toward what many once considered an unassailable mark. The Capitals star, though, recovered quickly to get back on track.
In March, Ovechkin announced a charity partnership which would see him donate money after every goal he scores until the end of his career to raise funds for pediatric cancer research.
Ovechkin has played all 20 of his NHL seasons with Washington, leading the team to its only Stanley Cup win in 2018. Earlier this year, he joined Gordie Howe as the only NHL players in history to rack up 20 goals in 20 straight seasons.
He has also amassed nine seasons of 50+ goals – including a career-high 65 in 2007-08 –been named an All-Star 12 times, league MVP three times, and in 2017 was honored as one of the best 100 NHL players of all time.
A year later, he lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time as his Capitals dispatched the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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