‘Records are meant to be broken, but I’m not sure who will get more goals than that’: Gretzky on Ovechkin’s 895th goal

Apr 6, 2025, 14:29 EDT

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) is honored with a painting by artist Tony Harris by (L-R) Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonis and Commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman and former Canadian-American ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky after scoring in the during the second period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. Ovechkin scored the 895th goal of his career, breaking the NHL all-time career goals record previously held by Wayne Gretzky at UBS Arena.

Credit: © Geoff Burke

Alex Ovechkin is finally the all-time leading goal scorer after getting his 895th career goal on Sunday against the New York Islanders, surpassing NHL great Wayne Gretzky.

To honour the Washington Capitals captain’s achievement, the NHL had a ceremony ready, with Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman participating in it after following Ovechkin ever since he came within two goals of breaking the record. Both also spoke in the ceremony about Ovechkin and his career.

“We have all just witnessed history in front of greatness,” said Bettman during the ceremony.

“They say records are made to be broken, but I’m not sure who is going to get more goals than that,” said Gretzky.

Ovechkin was presented with a painting from the league to honour the achievement. Gretzky’s wife, Janet, also presented the Ovechkin’s family with a gift, as Gordie Howe’s wife, Colleen, did the same for his family when he took over the all-time goal record from Howe.

Despite the fact that the Capitals were on the road at UBS Arena, the crowd was just as energetic as if the team was in Washington for the historic achievement. A montage video was also displayed on the jumbotron, and Ovechkin also got a chance to speak with the crowd, along with the fans watching at home on TV.

Ovechkin scored the record-breaking goal 7:26 into the second period on Sunday just like his record-tying goal on Friday, in a fashion that seemed very typical of Ovechkin. With the Capitals on the power play, Tom Wilson made a cross ice pass to Ovechkin in his usual spot above the left-side faceoff dot, and he sniped it past Ilya Sorokin to get the historic goal.

Next up for Ovechkin on the list of achievements will be getting to goal 900, which he is currently five goals away from. He will have five games after Sunday to reach that mark this season, and then he has next season before the conclusion of his contract.