Alex Ovechkin Surpasses Gretzky’s All-Time Goal-Scoring Record

As the final month of the NHL’s regular season kicks off, the great Alexander Ovechkin has cemented himself in hockey immortality.

On April 6th, 2025, Ovechkin netted his record-breaking 895th career goal against the New York Islanders. The tally put him a goal ahead of Wayne Gretzky and gave Ovechkin sole position at the top of the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring list.

After scoring his 891st goal against the Boston Bruins, many were wondering if Ovie could reach the milestone in the eight remaining games. Well, it took him just three more games. After potting a pair of goals against the Chicago Blackhawks, the stage was set for Ovechkin to surpass Gretzky’s record, which was previously thought to be unbreakable. Ovechkin needed to score at a pace of 0.5 goals per game for the rest of the season but managed a pace of 1.3 goals per game before breaking the record.

How Many Goals Does Alex Ovechkin Have?

On April 6th, 2025, Alexander Ovechkin reached 895 career regular-season goals. All of these goals have come as a member of the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin was drafted by the Capitals first overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The Russian sniper was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, and has been the team captain of the Capitals since 2010.

Of his 895 career regular season goals, 325 have come on the power play and 136 were game-winning goals. Both of these are also all-time NHL records held by Ovechkin. He’s also netted five short-handed goals in his career.

Ovechkin has also scored 72 career playoff goals with the Capitals. He won a Stanley Cup with Washington in 2017-2018 and led the league in postseason scoring with 15 goals. Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe trophy that year as the league’s playoff MVP.

When Did Ovechkin Break the NHL Goal-Scoring Record?

On Sunday, April 6th, 2025, Ovechkin broke Gretzky’s all-time scoring record against the New York Islanders. In patented Ovechkin fashion, he took a cross-ice pass on his off-wing and fired a laser beam of a wrist shot past fellow countryman Ilya Sorokin. Despite the game being on Long Island, the home crowd cheered for Ovechkin and gave him a standing ovation.

Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal was assisted by long-time Capitals teammate Tom Wilson and center Dylan Strome. Not surprisingly for Ovechkin, the goal came on the power play and came on his fourth shot of the night.

Once Ovechkin had scored his teammates jumped onto the ice and mobbed the superstar. Ovechkin himself had dived and slid on his stomach across the ice awaiting his teammates to join him in the celebration. Wayne Gretzky would join Ovechkin on the ice and then celebrate with him in the dressing room after the game.

Who Will Beat Ovechkin’s Goal-Scoring Record?

Now that Ovechkin has surpassed Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record this year, one has to wonder if anyone else will be able to break Ovechkin’s record in the future.

Unfortunately, there’s a reason why this record stood for so many years. The next closest active NHL player to Ovechkin’s goal total is his main rival Sidney Crosby who has 619 goals. At this stage in his career, it seems unlikely that Sid the Kid will be able to score more than 250 more goals to catch Ovechkin.

After Crosby, the list gets even more scarce. Steven Stamkos sits 22nd on the all-time goal-scoring list with 578. At age 35, Stamkos isn’t putting up another 300 by the time he retires. Further down the list, some potential snipers could challenge Ovechkin if they keep up their current scoring pace.

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs is one player who many believe could challenge the record in the future. Matthews has 397 career goals in 621 games and sits 112th on the all-time list. At just 27 years of age, Matthews has a legitimate shot to at the record if he can stay healthy during his prime.

Leon Draisaitl sits one spot ahead of Matthews with 398 goals in 788 career games. Draisaitl is 29, but playing with Connor McDavid should provide him with plenty of opportunities.

A few spots lower, Boston’s David Pastrnak has 385 goals in 749 career games, all with the Bruins. At 28, Pastrnak is also in the prime of his career and like Draisaitl and Matthews, will need to stay healthy in order to keep this goal-scoring pace up for the rest of their careers.

Finally, you can’t talk about a list of all-time great players without mentioning Connor McDavid. The phenom already has 361 goals in 708 career games. If he is able to keep up his pace and play nearly 1500 career games like Ovechkin, then he may have the best shot of all of these players to dethrone the Great Eight by the end of his career.

Ovechkin’s Goal-Scoring Legacy

What makes Ovechkin’s goal-scoring record so special? Ovechkin has managed to keep his goal-scoring pace throughout his career. He’s led the league in goal-scoring in nine different seasons and has scored 40 or more goals in a season fourteen times including this season.

His goal-scoring has rarely slowed down throughout his career. Even this season, in his age 39 season, Ovechkin has potted 37 goals in 57 games as of April 1st. What’s even more impressive is that Ovechkin missed just sixteen games with a broken left fibula this year. When he returned in the new year, Ovechkin continued his torrid pace without ever skipping a beat.

Now that Ovechkin has finally broken Gretzky’s record, nobody can say he doesn’t deserve it. Whether it highlights reel goals from his back or his patented cross-ice one-timer down on one knee, Ovechkin has proved himself to be the ultimate weapon and clearly, the greatest goal scorer who has ever hit the ice.