Alex Ovechkin goals tracker: 'The Great Eight' is 14 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record of 894
Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin is inching closer to an NHL scoring record that many thought was unbreakable.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin is within striking distance of Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record of 894. "The Great One" scored his final goal on March 29, 1999. "The Great Eight" could very well surpass that mark 26 years later.
Ovechkin entered the 2024-25 NHL season with 853 career NHL goals. He started the season off red-hot with 15 goals in 18 games. But after suffering a broken fibula in November, he missed five weeks. That time off didn't affect his goal-scoring prowess: He recorded four goals in his first five games back from injury.
With 25 games remaining in the regular season, Ovechkin is currently tied for seventh in the NHL with 28 goals in 40 games. The winger scored goals No. 880 and No. 881 on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers, getting a shot right down the middle to put him 14 goals away from surpassing Gretzky.
OVI IS 15 GOALS AWAY FROM THE RECORD 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/Nkrf3ArJLH
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 23, 2025
OVI HAS HIS SECOND OF THE GAME 🤯14 AWAY, IT'S GONNA HAPPEN 😱 pic.twitter.com/8LIPEQL1sQ
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 23, 2025
"It's just a matter of time, whether it's late this year, early next year, whenever," Gretzky told NHL.com earlier this season about Ovechkin's chances of breaking his record. "I mean, he's a great player. He's a great goal scorer."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in December that he will follow Ovechkin around when he's within four or five goals of the record with Gretzky accompanying him.
Ovechkin continues his chase of Gretzky's mark on Sunday when the Capitals host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
We will track Ovechkin's race to 894 goals and beyond all season.
1. Wayne Gretzky (894)2. Alex Ovechkin (879)3. Gordie Howe (801)4. Jaromir Jagr (766)5. Brett Hull (741)6. Marcel Dionne (731)7. Phil Esposito (717)8. Mike Gartner (708)9. Mark Messier (694)10. Steve Yzerman (692)
Tue, Feb 25: vs. Calgary, 7 p.m. ETThu, Feb 27: vs. St. Louis, 7 p.m. ETSat, Mar 1: vs. Tampa Bay, 12:30 p.m. ETMon, Mar 3: vs. Ottawa, 6:30 p.m. ETWed, Mar 5: at Rangers, 7 p.m. ET Fri, Mar 7: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. ETSun, Mar 9: vs. Seattle, 3:30 p.m. ETTue, Mar 11: at Anaheim, 10 p.m. ETThu, Mar 13: at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. ETSat, Mar 15: at San Jose, 5 p.m. ETTue, Mar 18: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. ETThu, Mar 20: vs. Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ETSat, Mar 22: vs. Florida, 5 p.m. ETTue, Mar 25: at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. ETThu, Mar 27: at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ETSun, Mar 30: vs. Buffalo, 3 p.m. ETTue, Apr 1: at Boston, 7 p.m. ETWed, Apr 2: at Carolina, 7 p.m. ETFri, Apr 4: vs. Chicago, 7 p.m. ETSun, Apr 6: at Islanders, 12:30 p.m. ETThu, Apr 10: vs. Carolina, 7:30 p.m. ETSat, Apr 12: at Columbus, 7 p.m. ETSun, Apr 13: vs. Columbus, 6 p.m. ETTue, Apr 15: at Islanders, 8 p.m. ETThu, Apr 17: at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET
No. 1: Oct. 2, 2005 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Pascal Leclaire)
In honor of YOU the fans voting Alex Ovechkin the GREATEST goal scorer in NHL history we throw it back to his very FIRST goal in the NHL. October 5th, 2005. 🚨@Capitals | @ovi8 pic.twitter.com/c3qxLE5RoV
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 1, 2020
No. 50: April 13, 2006 vs. Atlanta Thrashers (Mike Dunham)
No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 vs. New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist)
No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (Jonathan Quick)
No. 300: April 5, 2011 (James Reimer)
No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (empty net)
No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (Andrew Hammond)
Best part of Ovechkin's 500th is all his teammates immediately jumping onto the ice to mob him pic.twitter.com/bfZWmzy85y
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 11, 2016
No. 600: March 12, 2018 (Connor Hellebuyck)
No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (Mackenzie Blackwood)
No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (Petr Mrazek)
In case you missed it (you didn't)...here's how Alexander Ovechkin became just the third player in NHL history to score 800 goals. pic.twitter.com/o6512qWFmv
— NHL (@NHL) December 14, 2022
2005-06: 12006-07: 12007-08: 32008-09: 32009-10: 12010-11: 12011-12: 02012-13: 22013-14: 12014-15: 02015-16: 22016-17: 22017-18: 32018-19: 32019-20: 42020-21: 02021-22: 12022-23: 22023-24: 02024-25: 1
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