Ovechkin is the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history.

He scored No. 895 for the Washington Capitals to break Wayne Gretzky's NHL record against New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin during a 4-1 loss at UBS Arena on April 6, 2025. The historic goal came at 7:26 of the second period on the power play. Ovechkin took a pass from Tom Wilson and ripped a wrist shot from the left face-off circle, two days after he scored twice to tie Gretzky in a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Arena. Goal No. 894 was Ovechkin's 136th game-winner, breaking a tie with Jaromir Jagr for most in NHL history.

"The Great 8" became the 10th player in the 107-year history of the NHL to claim the title as its all-time goals leader (outright or tied) and the fourth to own that distinction in 72 years, following Gretzky, Gordie Howe (Nov. 10, 1963 to March 23, 1994) and Maurice Richard (Nov. 8, 1952 to Nov. 10, 1963). Howe held the NHL goal record since scoring his 545th on Nov. 10, 1963, to overtake Richard, who scored 544 goals.

Gretzky was in attendance to watch Ovechkin break a record many used to think would never be touched. He held the mark since scoring his 802nd goal to surpass Howe while playing for the Los Angeles Kings against the Vancouver Canucks at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles on March 23, 1994.

Ovechkin made more history in Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference First Round, scoring the first overtime goal in his NHL postseason career, his 152nd playoff game, to give the Capitals a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens. To begin his 21st NHL season, Ovechkin became the eighth player in League history to play 1,500 games with one franchise against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 25, 2025. He scored his 900th NHL goal in his 1,504th game, 2:39 into the second period of a 6-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena on Nov. 5 and passed Ron Francis for the second-most 20-goal seasons in NHL history when he scored in the first period of a 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Jan. 11, 2026.

Later in 2025-26, Ovechkin scored his 1,000th NHL goal in the regular season and playoffs combined at 14:17 of the third period in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on March 22, joining Gretzky (1,016) as the second NHL skater to do so. He continued his remarkable run of consistency by reaching 30 goals for an NHL-record 20th time in his 21 NHL seasons when he scored at 18:35 of the first period in a 6-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 31.

Ovechkin, the Capitals captain scored his 30th goal for an NHL-record 18th season to pass Mike Gartner, who reached the milestone in 17 of his 19 NHL seasons, with eight seconds left in the second period of a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on April 9, 2024. Two games into his 20th season, he had two assists to reach 700 in a 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 at Capital One Arena on Oct. 15, 2024. He was the 60th player in NHL history with 700 assists and the sixth to have at least 700 goals and 700 assists, joining Gretzky, Howe, Jagr, Phil Esposito and Marcel Dionne. He scored his 20th goal of the 2024-25 season into an empty net at 19:01 of the third period in a 4-1 victory at the Predators on Jan. 11 to join Howe as the only players in NHL history with at least 20 in 20 consecutive seasons. Howe did it in 22 in a row from 1949-50 to 1970-71.

Ovechkin became the third player in NHL history to score 800 goals when he had a hat trick in a 7-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Dec. 13, 2022. Ten days later, Ovechkin scored twice in a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Capital One Arena to pass Howe for second all-time with 802. He then passed Gretzky for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history with 13 when he scored against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena on March 21, 2023. It was also his sixth 40-goal season since he turned 30 years old, passing Esposito for the most in NHL history.

Ovechkin scored his 57th empty-net goal to pass Gretzky for first in NHL history with 27 seconds left in the third period of a 3-0 win at the Boston Bruins on Feb. 10.

The Moscow native became the eighth member of the NHL's 700-goal club when he scored against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 22, 2020. At 34 years and 158 days, he joined Gretzky (29 years, 342 days) as the only players to reach 700 goals before turning 35. He kept on scoring after reaching No. 700. Ovechkin won the Maurice Richard Trophy for the ninth time in 2019-20 after sharing the NHL lead in goals with Bruins forward David Pastrnak -- each scored 48.

His trademark one-timer from the top of the left circle is one of the most famous shots in NHL history. But at 6-foot-3, 236 pounds, Ovechkin is a combination of speed, skill and power the likes of which the NHL has rarely seen; he's one of the few big scorers in League history who also plays a physical game.

He also plays with a joy that few players in any sport can match.

"It doesn't matter where I play," Ovechkin said. "If coach says I must play goalie, I will play goalie."

Ovechkin, taken by Washington with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, had two goals for the Capitals against the Blue Jackets in his NHL debut Oct. 5, 2005, scored one of the most spectacular goals in NHL history against the Phoenix Coyotes on Jan. 16, 2006, and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie after finishing his first season with 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists).

"Within a week or so we knew that we had a real special human being here," said Glen Hanlon, Ovechkin's first coach with the Capitals.

Ovechkin scored 46 goals in his second season, then scored 65, still the most in the 21st century, in 2007-08. Ovechkin also had 47 assists and led the NHL with 112 points, winning the Art Ross, Richard and Hart trophies and the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award).

The goals and awards kept coming. Ovechkin won the Richard and Hart trophies and Pearson Award again in 2008-09 after leading the NHL with 56 goals. By 2018-19, he had won the Richard Trophy (awarded to the NHL's top goal scorer) eight times and the Hart Trophy as League MVP three times, been a First-Team NHL All-Star eight times and reached the 50-goal mark eight times. He had also been voted to the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017.

On Jan. 11, 2017, Ovechkin scored twice against the Pittsburgh Penguins to reach and pass the 1,000-point mark, becoming the 84th NHL player to hit the milestone. He was also the fourth player from Russia or the Soviet Union to do so, after Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny and Alex Kovalev. He passed Fedorov, who he grew up admiring and played with early in his career with the Capitals, for the most NHL points by a Russia-born player with an assist on Feb. 5, 2019.

But perhaps the sweetest moment of Ovechkin's career came on June 7, 2018, when the Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to win their first championship since entering the NHL in 1974. Not only was Ovechkin a Stanley Cup champion at last, he was voted winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after leading all players with 15 postseason goals.

He scored two goals against the Calgary Flames on March 8, 2022 to tie Jagr for third in NHL history. In that same game, Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom became the ninth set of NHL teammates and first in Capitals history to play 1,000 games together.

Ovechkin passed Jagr for third in NHL goals when he scored No. 767 against the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena on March 15, 2022. He tied Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most 50-goal seasons in NHL history with nine when he scored twice a 4-3 overtime loss to the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on April 20. The 36-year-old became the oldest player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season (36 years, 215 days), surpassing Johnny Bucyk, who was 35 years, 308 days, when he scored his 50th with the Bruins in 1970-71.

Ovechkin broke the NHL record for most goals with one team when he scored No. 787 for the Capitals in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes at Capital One Arena on Nov. 5, 2022. He passed Howe, who scored 786 goals in 1,687 games over 25 seasons with the Red Wings from 1946-1971. Ovechkin had tied the record when he scored his 786th goal in the second period of a 3-1 loss at Detroit on Nov. 3, when Howe's son, Mark, was in attendance. The goal was scored about three miles from the site of the Olympia, where Howe scored his 786th goal for Detroit on April 3, 1971.

He scored twice to pass Gretzky for the most road goals in NHL history (403) during a 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Nov. 30.