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Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin is inching closer to an NHL scoring record that many thought was unbreakable.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin is within striking distance of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record of 894. “The Great One” scored his final goal on March 29, 1999. “The Great Eight” could very well surpass that mark 26 years later.
Ovechkin entered the 2024-25 NHL season with 853 career NHL goals. He started the season off red-hot with 15 goals in 18 games. But after suffering a broken fibula in November, he missed five weeks. That time off didn’t affect his goal-scoring prowess: He recorded four goals in his first five games back from injury.
Two days after his 32nd career hat trick, the winger upped his career total to 883 on Tuesday against the Calgary Flames. That brought his season total to 30, making it his NHL-record 19th season with at least 30 goals. The next most: Mike Gartner with 17.
Ovechkin is now 12 goals away from surpassing Gretzky, with 24 games left to play.
“It’s just a matter of time, whether it’s late this year, early next year, whenever,” Gretzky told NHL.com earlier this season about Ovechkin’s chances of breaking his record. “I mean, he’s a great player. He’s a great goal scorer.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in December that he will follow Ovechkin around when he’s within four or five goals of the record, with Gretzky accompanying him.
Ovechkin will continue his chase for Gretzky’s mark on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.
We will track Ovechkin’s race to 894 goals and beyond all season.
NHL top-10 in career goals
1. Wayne Gretzky (894)
2. Alex Ovechkin (883)
3. Gordie Howe (801)
4. Jaromir Jagr (766)
5. Brett Hull (741)
6. Marcel Dionne (731)
7. Phil Esposito (717)
8. Mike Gartner (708)
9. Mark Messier (694)
10. Steve Yzerman (692)
Remaining 2024-25 regular-season games
Thu, Feb 27: vs. St. Louis, 7 p.m. ET
Sat, Mar 1: vs. Tampa Bay, 12:30 p.m. ET
Mon, Mar 3: vs. Ottawa, 6:30 p.m. ET
Wed, Mar 5: at Rangers, 7 p.m. ET
Fri, Mar 7: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. ET
Sun, Mar 9: vs. Seattle, 3:30 p.m. ET
Tue, Mar 11: at Anaheim, 10 p.m. ET
Thu, Mar 13: at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. ET
Sat, Mar 15: at San Jose, 5 p.m. ET
Tue, Mar 18: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. ET
Thu, Mar 20: vs. Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ET
Sat, Mar 22: vs. Florida, 5 p.m. ET
Tue, Mar 25: at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. ET
Thu, Mar 27: at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET
Sun, Mar 30: vs. Buffalo, 3 p.m. ET
Tue, Apr 1: at Boston, 7 p.m. ET
Wed, Apr 2: at Carolina, 7 p.m. ET
Fri, Apr 4: vs. Chicago, 7 p.m. ET
Sun, Apr 6: at Islanders, 12:30 p.m. ET
Thu, Apr 10: vs. Carolina, 7:30 p.m. ET
Sat, Apr 12: at Columbus, 7 p.m. ET
Sun, Apr 13: vs. Columbus, 6 p.m. ET
Tue, Apr 15: at Islanders, 8 p.m. ET
Thu, Apr 17: at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET
Ovechkin milestone goal timeline
No. 1: Oct. 2, 2005 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Pascal Leclaire)
No. 50: April 13, 2006 vs. Atlanta Thrashers (Mike Dunham)
No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 vs. New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist)
No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (Jonathan Quick)
No. 300: April 5, 2011 (James Reimer)
No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (empty net)
No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (Andrew Hammond)
No. 600: March 12, 2018 (Connor Hellebuyck)
No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (Mackenzie Blackwood)
No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (Petr Mrazek)
Hat tricks by season (32 career)
2005-06: 1
2006-07: 1
2007-08: 3
2008-09: 3
2009-10: 1
2010-11: 1
2011-12: 0
2012-13: 2
2013-14: 1
2014-15: 0
2015-16: 2
2016-17: 2
2017-18: 3
2018-19: 3
2019-20: 4
2020-21: 0
2021-22: 1
2022-23: 2
2023-24: 0
2024-25: 2