Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goal record.
Ovechkin, 39, entered this season needing 42 goals to break Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals, which has stood since 1999. The Washington captain, who scored twice on Friday to tie the record, has 41 goals this season and has six games left to get one more and become the NHL’s all-time leader.
Ovechkin scored 15 times in his first 18 games before suffering a fractured left fibula during a Nov. 18 game against the Utah Hockey Club. He has scored 26 times in 42 games since he returned on Dec. 28.
This season, he passed Gordie Howe for most goals scored after 30 and set records for game-winning goals, first-period goals and goalies scored against in his career. He moved into second place with 20 consecutive 20-goal seasons and tied the record for most franchises against which he has a hat trick. He became the first player to score 200 goals in three different decades.
Here’s a breakdown of Ovechkin’s statistics in the Gretzky chase (through April 4):
OVECHKIN VS. GRETZKY: Comparing the two greats
CAPITALS SCHEDULE: How Ovechkin has fared vs. remaining teams
How many goals does Alex Ovechkin have?
Ovechkin has 894 career goals.
How many goals does Alex Ovechkin need to pass Wayne Gretzky?
Ovechkin has tied Gretzky’s record and needs one more goal to break it.
Alex Ovechkin’s goals this season
Ovechkin has 41 goals and 27 assists in 60 games, despite missing 16 games with the leg injury. He has played in one less career game than Gretzky.
What did Alex Ovechkin do in his last game?
Ovechkin scored Nos. 893 and record-tying 894 in Friday’s 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
He wristed a shot from the right faceoff circle past Spencer Knight in the first period after a nice pass from Dylan Strome.
His second goal was on the power play in the third period on a shot from his office in the left faceoff circle.
Ovechkin didn’t want to be on the ice on an empty-net situation so he wouldn’t break the record that way. He had a couple chances after Ryan Leonard’s empty-netter but Knight stopped him.
When is Alex Ovechkin’s next game?
The Capitals play Sunday, April 6 at the New York Islanders. Ovechkin has 44 goals in 71 career regular-season games against the Islanders.
Alex Ovechkin vs. Wayne Gretzky stats
Games: Gretzky 1,487 | Ovechkin 1,486
Goals: Gretzky 894 | Ovechkin 894
Assists: Gretzky 1,963 | Ovechkin 724
Points: Gretzky 2,857 | Ovechkin 1,618
Alex Ovechkin goals in 2024-25
Oct. 19: 1 vs. New Jersey
Oct. 23: 1 vs. Philadelphia
Oct. 29: 2 vs. N.Y. Rangers
Oct. 31: 1 vs. Montreal
Nov. 2: 1 vs. Columbus
Nov. 3: 1 vs. Carolina
Nov. 6: 1 vs. Nashville
Nov. 9: 2 vs. St. Louis
Nov. 17: 3 vs. Vegas
Nov. 18: 2 vs. Utah
Dec. 28: 1 vs. Toronto
Dec. 29: 1 vs. Detroit
Jan. 2: 1 vs. Minnesota
Jan. 4: 1 vs. N.Y. Rangers
Jan. 11: 1 vs. Nashville
Jan. 16: 1 vs. Ottawa
Jan. 23: 1 vs. Seattle
Jan. 30: 1 vs. Ottawa
Feb 1: 1 vs. Winnipeg
Feb. 4: 1 vs. Florida
Feb. 6: 1 vs. Philadelphia
Feb. 23: 3 vs. Edmonton
Feb. 25: 1 vs. Calgary
March 1: 1 vs. Tampa Bay
March 5: 1 vs. N.Y. Rangers
March 9: 1 vs. Seattle
March 15: 1 vs. San Jose
March 19: 1 vs. Philadelphia
March 25: 1 vs. Winnipeg
March 30: 1 vs. Buffalo
April 1: 1 vs. Boston
April 2: 1 vs. Carolina
April 4: 2 vs. Chicago
Alex Ovechkin career goals breakdown
Even strength: 565, third overall
Power play: 324, a record
Short-handed: 5
Empty net: 65, a record
Game winners: 136, a record
Overtime goals: 27, a record
Multi-goal games: 179, second overall
Goalies scored against: 182, a record
Hat tricks: 32, tied for fifth overall. Ovechkin has hat tricks against 20 franchises, tying Brett Hull’s record.
20-goal seasons: 20, tied for second
30-goal seasons: 19, a record
40-goal seasons: 14, a record
Alex Ovechkin empty-net goals
Ovechkin has a record 65 empty-net goals, but Gretzky is up there, too, with 56. Ovechkin passed Gretzky in that category last season.
Alex Ovechkin goals by season
Season: Goals, career total
2005-06: 52, 52
2006-07: 46, 98
2007-08: 65*, 163
2008-09: 56*, 219
2009-10: 50, 269
2010-11: 32, 301
2011-12: 38, 339
2012-13: 32*, 371
2013-14: 51*, 422
2014-15: 53*, 475
2015-16: 50*, 525
2016-17: 33, 558
2017-18: 49*, 607
2018-19: 51*, 658
2019-20: 48*, 706
2020-21: 24, 730
2021-22: 50, 780
2022-23: 42, 822
2023-24: 31, 853
2024-25: 41, 894
*-led league in goals that season
NHL all-time goal scorers
The top 21 NHL all-time goal scorers all have 600 or more goals. All of the players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, except Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Jaromir Jagr, who are still playing.
1. Wayne Gretzky, 894 goals in 1,487 games
2. Alex Ovechkin, 894 goals in 1,486 games
3. Gordie Howe, 801 goals in 1,767 games
4. Jaromir Jagr, 766 goals in 1,733 games
5. Brett Hull, 741 goals in 1,269 games
6. Marcel Dionne, 731 in 1,348 games
7. Phil Esposito, 717 goals in 1,282 games
8. Mike Gartner, 708 goals in 1,432 games
9. Mark Messier, 694 goals in 1,756 games
10. Steve Yzerman, 692 goals in 1,514 games
11. Mario Lemieux, 690 goals in 915 games
12. Teemu Selanne, 684 goals in 1,451 games
13. Luc Robitaille, 668 goals in 1,431 games
14. Brendan Shanahan, 656 goals in 1,524 games
15. Dave Andreychuk, 640 goals in 1,639 games
16. Joe Sakic, 625 goals in 1,378 games
17. Jarome Iginla, 625 goals in 1,554 games
18. Sidney Crosby, 619 goals in 1,346 games
19. Bobby Hull, 610 goals in 1,063 games
20. Dino Ciccarelli, 608 goals in 1,232 games
21. Jari Kurri, 601 goals in 1,251 games
ESPN+, truTV to present OviCast
ESPN announced it would present an OviCast on ESPN+ broadcasts on April 10, 12, 15 and 17. Each OviCast will feature an isolated camera on Ovechkin in one box with record-breaking information below, alongside the traditional game feed in a second box with his game stats. TNT will do something similar on truTV during its April 6 broadcast.