Ovechkin becomes Hockey’s All-time Leading Scorer
Sean Gordon
Staff Writer
The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals 4-1 in New York, however this was far from your average Sunday afternoon hockey game. The result of this one was completely overshadowed by the fact that hockey has a new player atop its all-time scoring list.
The big moment came in the second period when Alexander Ovechkin bagged a power play goal to score Washington’s first and only goal of the game. The goal marked the Russian’s 895th NHL goal, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record that held for over thirty years.
About seven minutes into the period, Capitals’ Tom Wilson, 12- year teammate of Ovechkin, crossed the puck to him, who whipped it into the back of the net past Russian international teammate Ilya Sorokin. “The ultimate goal-scorer’s goal for the greatest of all time”, said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery.
Ovechkin skated to center ice and belly flopped as his teammates piled on top of him and “Ovi!”
chants echoed throughout UBS Arena. Play was paused for a 15-minute ceremony to recognize the milestone.
Surpassing Gretzky is just the cherry on top of a historic campaign it has been for Ovechkin this season, however there was a point where it didn’t look so promising. Just 18 games into the season, he suffered a broken fibula that kept him off the ice for over a month.
Upon his return, Ovi was not chasing records, records were chasing him. In January alone, he became just the second player in history to record 20 consecutive 20-goal seasons, after only Gordie Howe, and scored on a 179th different goalkeeper, the highest mark in history.
In February, he became the first player in NHL history to reach the 200-goal mark in three different decades (245 goals in the 2000s, 437 goals in the 2010s, 213 in the 2020s).
On Friday, he scored his 893rd and 894th goals in the 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Ovechkin’s first goal of the night marked his 40th of the season, extending his own record of 40-goal seasons to 14. The goal also made him just the second player in history to record a 40-goal season at age 39 or older.
In addition to an unbelievable individual season for Ovi, the Washington Capitals finished atop the Eastern Conference and Presidents’ Trophy runners-up. At 39 years young and a mere 20 seasons into his career, Alexander Ovechkin is showing that class is absolutely permanent.
Contact Sean at sean.gordon@student.shu.edu