Alex Ovechkin breaks new record as chase continues to become NHL’s leading scorer

CNN
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NHL star Alex Ovechkin picked up another record Thursday night as he moved closer to replacing Wayne Gretzky as the league’s leading scorer.

By scoring the only goal of the game in the Washington Capitals’ 1-0 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators, Ovechkin has now scored on more goaltenders – 179 – than any other player in history.

“That’s pretty cool,” said the Russian of the record previously held by Jaromír Jágr. “When you play 20 years – if you have chances for it – you want to take it.”

The goal was the 874th of Ovechkin’s remarkable career, meaning he is just 21 short of surpassing Gretzky’s 894 total.

The 39-year-old already has 21 goals in 29 games in 2024-25, which puts him on course to break the record this season as long as he stays healthy. Should he maintain his current scoring rate, he would break Gretzky’s record after playing three games less than the 1,487 the Canadian managed during his 21-year career.

Ovechkin’s goal Thursday, which came off a Rasmus Sandin pass after a 2-on-1 breakaway, was the 27th OT winner of his career, extending a record he already holds. Sidney Crosby is second with 22.

“I knew I had to take a shot as soon as I can because I knew (goalie Leevi Merilainen) might think I was going to give it back to Sandy,” Ovechkin said. “And it was good, and it goes in the net, so I’ll take it.”

The Russian missed 16 games with a broken fibula he suffered on November 18 but scored four goals in five games on his return at the end of 2024 before making more history on Sunday. In scoring his 20th goal of the season, Ovechkin joined Gordie Howe as the only NHL players in history to win. 20 goals in 20 straight seasons.