It’s only a matter of time until Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky’s scoring record

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin continues to inch closer to rewriting the NHL record book.

Netting the overtime winner Thursday versus the Ottawa Senators, the tally marked Ovechkin’s 21st goal of the season, putting him at 874 goals over his 20-year career and just 21 shy of surpassing the legendary Wayne Gretzky for top spot on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discussed how it is only a matter of time until Ovechkin takes sole possession of the record, a feat that could come as soon as this spring.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Last night it was a big game for one Alex Ovechkin. I love following along in this race. He moves one closer to Wayne Gretzky. Officially at 874 goals, 20 more to tie, 21 more to pass him. Last night, an overtime winner, looking like vintage Alex Ovechkin.

Frank Seravalli: It never fails to amaze. That’s the truth. When you look at his impact this season, and he started to go a couple of games without one and we are wondering, ‘When is the next one going to be? Can he continue at this pace?’ It is a matter of time. We are looking at mid-March, that is the projection now of when Alex Ovechkin is going to break this record. There was a clip going around in the last couple days of Joe Beninati, the Capitals’ play-by-play announcer, and it was from Ovechkin’s rookie year. He had scored, I think, 36 at that point, and he said, ‘Ovechkin is only 860 away from Wayne Gretzky.’ They were both kind of chuckling like, ‘Haha, good luck.’ And yet here we are, all these years later. The only player other than Gordie Howe to have 20 goals in 20 consecutive seasons. It’s bananas.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: