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Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals poses for a photo with Wayne Gretzky holding the puck from his 894th career goal after a game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Arena on April 04, 2025. Ovechkin’s goal ties him with Gretzky for the all-time goal scoring record. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/NHLI via Getty Images)

8 Fascinating Facts From Ovechkin’s Gr8 Chase

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Christopher Babos | Last updated Apr 6, 2025 8:35 AM ET

It has been over 30 years since Wayne Gretzky had company atop the NHL’s all-time regular season leaderboard. Following two goals in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin has joined Wayne Gretzky at the pinnacle of the goal-scoring mountain with 894 regular-season goals. With six games remaining in the Capitals’ season, Ovechkin takes his four-game goal-scoring streak to Long Island for an early afternoon puck drop against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday. As the NHL world waits to crown a new scoring champion, here are some fascinating facts about Ovechkin’s race to first place in NHL history at 895 goals.

1 Game Better Than Gretzky to 894 Goals

Despite multiple interruptions during his playing career, like the NHL lockout that erased the 2004-05 season, Ovechkin has continued to score at a Hall-of-Fame level over his 20 years in the NHL. Washington’s captain needed 1,486 NHL games to reach the 894 regular-season goal benchmark set by Gretzky, who played one more NHL game before retiring from the NHL. “I am so glad we’re tied,” Gretzky said postgame. “I can live with that (being an NHL scoring leader) for 24 more hours. I can still say I’m tied for the most.”

In a career situation where most players would be slowing down, Ovechkin defied conventions by staying remarkably consistent. While Gretzky took 231 games to move from 700 to 800 goals, Ovechkin achieved the feat in 162 contests or 69 fewer games. The final 94 goals of Gretzky’s career occurred over nearly five seasons (364 games). Ovechkin completed his march from 800 to 894 goals in exactly half the amount of time at 182 games, or a little more than two full 82-game NHL campaigns in Washington.

Ovechkin Is 2nd to Gretzky in Multi-Goal Games

With his two goals against Chicago on Friday, Ovechkin recorded his 179th multi-goal contest of his NHL career. While Ovechkin owns the record for the most individual NHL games with one goal at 679 games, Washington’s leading scorer is second to Gretzky in multi-goal outings, who scored twice in a game 189 times in his career. Ovechkin must continue his scoring touch into next season (and perhaps beyond) to challenge this record.

Gretzky also owns the all-time record for career hat tricks with 50 three-goal games. Ovechkin is tied with Phil Esposito for fifth all-time with 32 hat tricks and would tie Brett Hull if he managed to net another three-goal game.

Washington’s Captain Sits 3rd in NHL Scoring Race

Despite missing 15 games due to a fractured left fibula sustained in mid-November, Ovechkin has surged to third place in the NHL scoring race behind Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl (52 goals) and Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander (42). Before suffering the left leg injury on Nov. 18 against Utah, Ovechkin had scored 15 goals in 18 games and led the NHL in scoring over the first six weeks of the 2024-25 season.

In the 61 games since returning from injury, Ovechkin has scored 26 more times for Washington for a grand total of 41 goals in 60 games. He has six more opportunities to break Gretzky’s mark this season. Ovechkin enters Saturday afternoon’s contest on a four-game goal streak and has scored eight goals in his last 10 games.

Ovechkin Tied for 4th in Shot Speed This Season

If you think Ovechkin’s Subway sandwich-based diet is slowing him down this season, you’d better think again. The spicy Italian footlong stuffed with spicy pepperoni, salami, and cheese has been a magical tonic for Washington’s leading scorer over his career, and it has not slowed him any in 2025. Ovechkin has registered among the hardest-shooting forwards in the NHL this season with a 98.9 miles per hour (mph) blast, which placed fourth best in the league this season.

This cannon-like power is not an anomaly for Ovechkin this season, with an average shot speed of 68 mph that places inside the top 3% of shooters this season. Ovechkin has registered 27 shots exceeding 90-plus mph, which trails only the Buffalo Sabres’ Tage Thompson (49). No other NHL forward has reached 15 shots above the 90-plus mph threshold in 2024-25. It is not the first time the Russian forward has displayed his power to the NHL world. In 2018, Ovechkin won the NHL Hardest Shot competition with a shot exceeding 101 mph on the radar gun.

Washington’s Star Poses Elite Threat in the First 5 Minutes

Ovechkin’s opening goal at the 3:52 mark of the first period against Chicago was significant in a few ways for the superstar’s journey toward the top of the NHL’s record books. It was Ovechkin’s 55th goal in the opening five minutes of a game, which moved past Steve Yzerman and into a tie with NHL Hall-of-Famer Mario Lemieux for the second most in NHL history. If Ovechkin achieves another quick goal during a game in his career, Washington’s captain will move into a tie for the all-time lead with Esposito at 56 goals in the first handful of minutes of an NHL game.

The goal was notable in another way for Washington’s winger. Ovechkin’s 40th goal of the season also represented his 242nd first-period score, making him the new all-time leader in the category. The previous record holder, Gretzky, was in the building to watch his own record fall to the 39-year-old scorer from Washington.

6 Goals Away From Creating the NHL’s 900-Goal Club

With Ovechkin tying Gretzky for the most goals in NHL regular season history at 894 goals, every goal the Captials’ winger nets for the rest of his career will set a new milestone for NHL players to chase. Ovechkin sits six goals away from becoming the first NHL player to score 900 goals in the league’s history. However, there will still be more work if Ovechkin hopes to take the all-time career lead in goals scored in North American hockey history.

Hockey Hall-of-Famer Gordie Howe leads the way with 975 career goals during a 32-year pro hockey career. He scored 786 goals in the NHL between 1946 and 1971, but a wrist injury forced him to retire from the league. After two seasons away from the game, Howe underwent wrist surgery before joining his sons on the World Hockey Association’s (WHA) Houston Aeros before the 1973-74 season. The legendary hockey figure played five more seasons in the WHA, totaling 174 goals before the league merged with the NHL before the 1979-80 season. A 51-year-old Howe returned to the NHL with the Hartford Whalers to score 15 goals in 80 games in his final pro season. When “Mr Hockey” retired from hockey, he needed 25 goals to reach 1,000 in his professional career.

Wayne Gretzky Bobby Orr Gordie Howe (The Hockey Writers)

Before joining the NHL in 1979-80, Gretzky scored 46 goals and registered 110 points in one season in the WHA. Adding those goals to his NHL goal total would raise Gretzky’s final tally to 940 goal celebrations in the professional ranks. That is good for second place all-time.

“The Golden Jet” Bobby Hull finished as the second all-time leading WHA scorer with 303 goals over seven seasons. He trailed only Marc Tardif’s 316 tallies, and the two players were the only individuals to eclipse the 300-goal plateau in WHA history. Combined with his 610 NHL goals between 1957 and 1980, Hull finished with 913 goals during a 23-year hockey career spanning 1,474 professional hockey games and would be the next man on the list for Ovechkin to track down.

Ovechkin Has 7 Game-Winning Goals in 2025

The 894th goal of Ovechkin’s career was notable in NHL history outside of being “just” the goal that tied Gretzky’s legendary scoring mark. Following rookie Ryan Leonard’s sealing empty-netter, Ovechkin could celebrate his seventh game-winning goal of the season. He took over the pole position in NHL history with his 136th game-winning goal (GWG) and passed his former teammate, Jaromir Jagr, to obtain the honor.

Ovechkin has recorded a game-winning goal in 14% of Washington’s 49 wins this season. Of the 41 goals he’s scored this season, 17% of them have directly led to a Captials’ victory as a GWG for Washington.

8 Road Power Play Goals for Ovechkin this Season

Ovechkin has scored 12 power-play goals this season, including eight with the man advantage on the road. Surprisingly, Washington’s captain has only netted four power-play goals in front of the home crowd at Capital One Arena during the 2024-25 campaign. Ovechkin has two more games to electrify the home supporters during the regular season.

The Russian winger sits fourth in the NHL in road power-play goals and has four more visiting contests on the schedule to add to his total. Brayden Point (11 goals), Jake DeBrusk (nine), and Nico Hischier (nine) are the only forwards ahead of Washington’s star in the category. Several players are tied with Ovechkin’s eight visiting goals with the man advantage, including two members of the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk.