Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky’s goal scoring record

Post Reply New Topic

On Friday, Alex Ovechkin made history. The Washington Capitals winger notched two goals against the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring his 893rd and 894th career goals to tie Wayne Gretzky for the all-time NHL scoring record.

Ovechkin's record-tying goal came off a power play in the third period, break a 3-3 tie with Chicago. Soon after the goal, Gretzky went on the broadcast to sing Ovechkin's praises.

”This is what the game is all about. Alex has been great for the game, great for Washington, great for his own country. It’s wonderful. I’m very proud of him. I’m proud of what I accomplished and that’s what makes our game so wonderful, the great athletes that we have and the wonderful people that they are," Gretzky said on the broadcast.

He’s special. You know, when (Mark) Messier retired and Gordie Howe retired and (Mario) Lemieux retired and Bobby Orr retired, we thought, ‘OK, what’s going to happen to our game now?’ And then along came Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, and now we’ve got (Connor) McDavid, (Nathan) MacKinnon, Matthew (Tkachuk)," Gretzky added. "Our game just gets better all the time, and that’s why it’s so special."

Gretzky added that he hoped that Ovechkin would break the record that night: "I hope it happens tonight. It would be fun. He deserves it in front of the fans," he said.

Unfortunately, the game ended before Ovechkin could secure a hat trick. But the two goals alone was enough to fire up the crowd.

Ovechkin reached the milestone in front of an electric home crowd in Washington's Capital One Arena. After hitting the goal, Ovechkin celebrated with the rest of his teammates on the ice, with the entire Capitals bench clearing to cheer on their captain. Ovechkin also took a victory lap to celebrate with his family on the other side of the glass.

While celebrating, Ovechkin took a moment to bow to Gretzky in the stands. Gretzky has been attending the past few Capitals games as Ovechkin closes in on the record.