A once seemingly unbreakable NHL record could fall as early as the 2024-2025 season thanks to Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin’s goal-scoring performance.
The Great Eight is within striking distance of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goal record of 894, which Gretzky achieved on March 29, 1999 against the New York Islanders. Ovechkin entered this season with 853 career goals.
He remains at 870 after failing to score during Washington’s 3–1 victory over the Boston Bruins in a New Year’s Eve matinee.
“It’s just a matter of time, whether it’s the end of this year, the beginning of next year or 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 scorer.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in December that he will follow Ovechkin if he is within four or five goals of the record, with Gretzky joining him.
Ovechkin started off red hot this season, with 15 goals in his first 18 games. Unfortunately, a broken fibula on November 18 caused him to miss 16 games for the Capitals. The “Russian Machine” has been durable throughout his NHL career, missing just 75 games due to injury since breaking into the 2005-06 season.
Since returning from injury on December 28, Ovechkin has scored two goals in three games.
Ovechkin will resume his pursuit of Gretzky’s record on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.
We’ll be following Ovechkin’s race to 894 goals and beyond all season long.
NHL top 10 in career goals
1. Wayne Gretzky (894)
2. Alex Ovechkin (870)
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)
Remaining games of the 2024-2025 regular season
Thu January 2: vs. Minnesota, 7:00 PM ET
Sat 4 Jan: vs. Rangers, 12:00 PM ET
Mon January 6: in Buffalo, 7:00 PM ET
Wednesday January 8: vs. Vancouver, 7:30 PM ET
Fri January 10: vs. Montreal, 7:00 PM ET
Sat 11 Jan: in Nashville, 8 p.m. ET
Tuesday January 14: vs. Anaheim, 7:00 PM ET
Thu January 16: in Ottawa, 7:00 PM ET
Sat 18 Jan: vs. Pittsburgh, 7:00 PM ET
Tuesday January 21: in Edmonton, 9:00 PM ET
Thu January 23: in Seattle, 10pm ET
Sat 25 Jan: in Vancouver, 10pm ET
Tuesday January 28: in Calgary, 9:00 PM ET
Thu January 30: in Ottawa, 7:00 PM ET
Sat February 1: vs. Winnipeg, 7:00 PM ET
Tue February 4: vs. Florida, 7:00 PM ET
Thu February 6: in Philadelphia, 7:00 PM ET
Sun February 9: vs. Utah, 12:30 PM ET
Sat February 22: in Pittsburgh, 3:00 PM ET
Sun February 23: vs. Edmonton, 1:00 PM ET
Tue February 25: vs. Calgary, 7:00 PM ET
Thu February 27: vs. St. Louis, 7:00 PM ET
Sat March 1: vs. Tampa Bay, 12:30 PM ET
Mon March 3: vs. Ottawa, 6:30 PM ET
Wed March 5: at Rangers, 7:00 PM ET
Fri Mar 7: vs. Detroit, 7:00 PM ET
Sun March 9: vs. Seattle, 3:30 PM ET
Tuesday March 11: in Anaheim, 10pm ET
Thu March 13: in Los Angeles, 10:30 PM ET
Sat Mar 15: in San Jose, 5:00 PM ET
Tue March 18: vs. Detroit, 7:00 PM ET
Thu March 20: vs. Philadelphia, 7:00 PM ET
Sat Mar 22: vs. Florida, 5:00 PM ET
Tue March 25: in Winnipeg, 8 p.m. ET
Thu March 27: in Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET
Sun March 30: vs. Buffalo, 3:00 PM ET
Tue April 1: in Boston, 7:00 PM ET
Wed April 2: in Carolina, 7:00 PM ET
Fri April 4: vs. Chicago, 7:00 PM ET
Sun April 6: at Islanders, 12:30 p.m. ET
Thu April 10: vs. Carolina, 7:30 PM ET
Sat April 12: in Columbus, 7:00 PM ET
Sun April 13: vs. Columbus, 6:00 PM ET
Tue April 15: at Islanders, 8 p.m. ET
Thu April 17: in Pittsburgh, 7:00 PM ET
Ovechkin milestone goal timeline
No. 1: October 2, 2005 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Pascal Leclaire)
No. 50: April 13, 2006 vs. Atlanta Thrashers (Mike Dunham)
No. 100: October 12, 2007 vs. New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist)
No. 200: February 5, 2009 (Jonathan Quick)
No. 300: April 5, 2011 (James Reimer)
No. 400: December 20, 2013 (empty net)
No. 500: January 10, 2016 (Andrew Hammond)
No. 600: March 12, 2018 (Connor Hellebuyck)
No. 700: February 22, 2020 (Mackenzie Blackwood)
No. 800: December 13, 2022 (Petr Mrazek)
Hat tricks per season (32 career)
2005-06: 1
2006-07: 1
2007-08: 3
2008-09: 3
2009-10: 1
2010-11: 1
2011-12: 0
2012-13: 2
2013-14: 1
2014-15: 0
2015-16: 2
2016-17: 2
2017-18: 3
2018-19: 3
2019-20: 4
2020-21: 0
2021-22: 1
2022-23: 2
2023-24: 0
2024-25: 1