The magic number for Alexander Ovechkin was 895. That was the tally that the Washington Capitals forward needed to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer and surpass the long-standing record by ice-hockey’s greatest legend, Wayne Gretzky.
The talk of Ovechkin passing the target had been slowly gathering momentum over the last few seasons and against the New York Islanders on April 6th, 2025, he finally got over the line, lighting up the lamp in what ultimately proved to be a 4-1 loss, with Gretzky himself watching on from the stands.
Run at Gretzky, Put on Ice
Hockey’s popularity stretches far beyond the rink. The NHL, its most watched league, pops up even in online casino slots. You’ll find titles like NHL Gold Blitz featured on various platforms, whether it’s a US site with $5 top-ups or a £5 deposit casino in the UK that lets you place low-stakes bets while playing hockey-themed titles and other slots. And one of the biggest stories in the NHL right now is the long-anticipated moment when Ovechkin finally broke Gretzky’s record. That Ovechkin was going to get there was inevitable. Each time he netted along the way was a small, yet crucial contribution to his historic tally.
But Ovehckin’s run at Gretzky’s total this season looked in jeopardy after he fractured his left leg in a collision with Utah Hockey Club’s Jack McBain in November. It was estimated that the fracture would see him miss around six weeks of game time, but Ovechkin was back in skating practice two weeks after the injury and was suiting up again after only missing around five weeks.
During his “hard month”, Ovechkin missed 16 games of the Caps’ season, who posted a 10-5-1 record in his absence. Ovechkin’s return from injury happened in late December against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he was immediately back among the scoring with an empty-netter as the Capitals ran out 5-2 winners. The goal put Ovechkin within 26 of Gretzky’s NHL goal-scoring record.
How the Record Fell
Ovechkin’s historic goal came in the second period of the game against the New York Islanders at the UBS Arena in early April. He ghosted into the left circle on the power play and unleashed a wrist shot that beat Islanders’ goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s blocker.
It was somewhat fitting that the goal came the way it did, as it’s where Ovekchin has been so prolific throughout his career. Upon reaching his 895 goal mark, 43.9% of his career goals had come from or above the left circle.
The celebration was iconic. He skated back towards centre ice and belly-flopped to slide across the blue line, giving fans echoes of his famous fountain splash in Georgetown after he had helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018.
However, Ovechkin later stated that his latest celebration was accidental and that he had just tripped on some bad ice. Regardless he was quickly mobbed by his teammates before a 15-minute game delay where NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Gretzky offered up their congratulations to the Russian.
Symmetry
39-year-old Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal came on his 1,487th appearance, all of them for the Washington Capitals. Remarkably, that was the exact number of games that Wayne Gretzky took to set the previous goalscoring record. Gretzky had swept past the previous record of 801 set by Gordie Howe long before that.
Ovechkin’s record breaking goal also appeared on the 21st anniversary of the Washington Capitals’ winning the NHL Draft Lottery in 2004, the year they picked him with the overall No. 1 pick.
Who Can Challenge
Records are there to be broken, and there has already been plenty of talk about who could challenge Ovechkin’s record. Who knows how high that goalscoring record will get, and he’s already on course to record his 15th 40-goal season in the NHL.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews is the name that most people will currently pick to challenge Ovechkin’s NHL goal-scoring record. He’s well on pace to at least be in the frame with almost 400 career goals in 600+ games and has a career 0.64 goals-per-game rate, while Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl is there around the 400 goal mark, albeit at a lower average goals-per-game rate of 0.51.
What does it take to get to 900 goals in the NHL? Consistency. It’s an average of 45 goals per season for 20 seasons. To put that in context, Auston Matthews has an average of 44.4 goals per season from his nine years in the league, so he would need to churn out another 11 or 12 seasons of that to get there.
Non-Active Players
Perhaps the next record-breaker isn’t active at the moment. Michael Misa is coming up in the next draft and could get himself in the conversation, while the WHL’s Gavin McKenna is a red-hot prospect for the following draft.
Then there’s Russia’s Matvei Michkov, who, as a 16-year-old became the youngest player to represent his country at the full international level, beating Ovechkin’s previous record. Michkov has had an impressive rookie season for the Philadelphia Flyers and with improvements to conditioning and discipline, the 20-year-old could threaten his compatriot’s record.
