Alex Ovechkin's Powerful Message to Nicklas Backstrom After Breaking NHL Record

Sunday was a special one for a lot of people in the hockey realm, with Washington Capitals superstar forward Alex Ovechkin finally breaking his short-lived tie with NHL legend Wayne Gretzky for the most goals ever in the league.

The 39-year-old Ovechkin scored twice in last Friday's 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at home to get to Gretzky's level at the 894-goal plateau. The three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner didn't make everyone wait longer, as he found the back of the net in the second period of Sunday's game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

Gretzky, of course, was in attendance at the Islanders game as well as Washington star Nicklas Backstrom, who's played for several seasons alongside Ovechkin.

Backstrom has not seen action in the NHL since 2023 but there is no denying that he's played a big role in Ovechkin's journey to the top of the NHL goal-scoring list.

In fact, the 37-year-old Backstrom is the all-time leading assist man to Ovechkin, who scored 279 goals in the NHL from passes made by the Swedish star.

"As soon as I saw 'Nicky,' I just wanted to cry," Ovechkin said after his historic milestone, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. 

"And we hold (each other). He was such a big part of my success, and we've grown up together. We play together, we've been in so many different situations together, and that relationship in that moment with him and 'Osh' (T.J. Oshie) being here, yeah, it's tremendous. It's support. It's always been like that. I tell him, 'Without you, I would never reach that milestone.'"