Ovechkin timeline filled with historic moments on road to NHL goals record

Alex Ovechkin became the NHL all-time leader in goals Sunday when he scored his 895th in the Washington Capitals' game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

The goal ended his historic chase of Wayne Gretzky's mark of 894 that had stood since March 29, 1999.

Here's a look at some of the most important dates on Ovechkin's road to becoming the NHL’s goal-scoring king:

June 26, 2004: Ovechkin is selected by the Capitals with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft.

Oct. 5, 2005: Ovechkin scores his first two NHL goals in his debut against, a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Jan. 13, 2006: Ovechkin gets his first NHL hat trick in his 43rd game, scoring all of Washington's goals in a 3-2 overtime win at the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The hat trick gets him to the 30-goal mark.

Jan. 16, 2006: In one of the defining plays of Ovechkin's NHL career, he scores a spectacular third-period goal after falling and sliding on his back in a 6-1 win at the Phoenix Coyotes.

April 13, 2006: Ovechkin scores in the first period of a 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, becoming the fourth rookie in NHL history to get 50 goals in a season. He joins Teemu Selanne (76, 1992-93 season), Mike Bossy (53, 1977-78) and Joe Nieuwendyk (52, 1987-88), and finishes with 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists) in 81 games.

June 22, 2006: Ovechkin wins the Calder Trophy voted as the top rookie in the NHL.

Oct. 12, 2007: Ovechkin scores his 100th NHL goal in a 3-1 loss at the New York Rangers.

March 21, 2008: Ovechkin becomes the 19th NHL player to have a 60-goal season when he scores in the third period of a 5-3 win against the Thrashers.

April 11, 2008: In his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, Ovechkin has a goal and an assist including the game-winner in a 5-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals lose the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals 4-3.

June 12, 2008: The "Great 8" cleans up at the 2008 NHL Awards. After finishing the 2007-08 season with 112 points (65 goals, 47 assists), Ovechkin wins the Hart, Art Ross, the Rocket Richard Trophy as the leading goal-scorer and the Ted Lindsay Award given to the most outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players' Association. He is the first player to win all four awards in the same season.

Feb. 5, 2009: Ovechkin joins Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bossy as the only players to score 200 goals in their first four NHL seasons when he gets No. 200 in a 5-4 loss to the Kings.

May 4, 2009: Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby each have a hat trick in the Capitals' 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Washington loses the series in seven games.

June 18, 2009: Ovechkin becomes the 17th player in NHL history to win the Hart Trophy twice, and the 10th to win the award in consecutive seasons. He also accepts his second Rocket Richard Trophy after leading the League with 56 goals in 79 games.

April 5, 2011: Ovechkin becomes the sixth-youngest player in NHL history to score 300 goals when he scores in the first period of a 3-2 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

June 14, 2013: Ovechkin becomes the eighth player to win the Hart Trophy three times after finishing the 2012-13 season with 56 points (32 goals, 24 assists) in 48 games, and claims the Richard Trophy for the third time.

Sept. 29, 2013: Less than five months before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Ovechkin carries the Olympic torch. He tweeted: "So sick!!!!!!! best moment in my life!!! thx @cocacola and Sochi 2014 !!!!" with a picture of him carrying the torch.

Dec. 20, 2013: An empty-net goal in a 4-2 win at the Carolina Hurricanes makes Ovechkin the 89th NHL player to score 400 goals. He is the sixth-fastest to do so, trailing Gretzky, Bossy, Lemieux, Brett Hull and Jari Kurri.

April 11, 2014: Ovechkin scores his 51st and final goal of the season in a 4-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on the way to another Richard Trophy.

Nov. 4, 2014: Ovechkin has two assists in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames but sets the Capitals record for most career points with his 826th, passing Peter Bondra.

Feb. 1, 2015: With a first-period, power-play goal in a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Ovechkin reaches 30 goals for the 10th consecutive season. He becomes the fifth NHL player to accomplish that feat, joining Bossy, Gretzky, Kurri and Mike Gartner.

June 24, 2015: Ovechkin accepts his fifth Rocket Richard Trophy, and third straight, at the 2015 NHL Awards. He is the fifth player to lead the League in goals outright at least five times, joining Gretzky and Gordie Howe (five times each), and Bobby Hull and Phil Esposito (six apiece), with Hull tying for the League lead on a seventh occasion.

Nov. 19, 2015: With his 484th career NHL goal in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, Ovechkin passes Sergei Fedorov for most by a Russian-born player. It took Fedorov 1,248 games to set that record. Ovechkin broke it in 777.

Jan. 10, 2016: Ovechkin becomes the 43rd player to score 500 NHL goals. He adds No. 501 in a 7-1 win against the Ottawa Senators.

June 22, 2016: Ovechkin receives his fourth straight Rocket Richard Trophy and sixth overall after he scores 50 goals in 79 games, the third straight season he's scored at least 50.

Jan. 11, 2017: Playing his 880th NHL game, Ovechkin becomes the 84th player in League history to reach 1,000 points, and 37th to do so with only one team, when he scores a first-period goal against the Penguins. It's also his 545th goal, passing Maurice Richard for 29th in NHL history.

Jan. 27, 2017: In a ceremony during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, Ovechkin is named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.

Oct. 7, 2017: After scoring three goals in a season opening, 5-4 shootout win against the Senators two days earlier, Ovechkin has four goals in a 6-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens to become the first player to have a hat trick in consecutive games to start an NHL season since 1917-18, when Cy Denneny, Joe Malone and Reg Noble each did so.

Jan. 2, 2018: Ovechkin scores his 100th game-winning goal and NHL-record 22nd in overtime to give the Capitals a 5-4 win against the Hurricanes.

Jan. 25, 2018: Ovechkin becomes the sixth player in NHL history to score at least 30 goals in 13 consecutive seasons and gets his 500th assist in the Capitals' 4-2 win against the Florida Panthers.

March 3, 2018: Ovechkin becomes the sixth player with at least 40 goals in at least nine seasons when he scores in a 5-2 win against the Maple Leafs in the 2018 NHL Stadium Series at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. The others are Gretzky (12), Lemieux and Marcel Dionne (10), and Bossy and Gartner (nine).

March 12, 2018: Ovechkin becomes the 20th player with 600 NHL goals when he scores twice in a 3-2 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets.

April 1, 2018: Ovechkin skates in his 1,000th NHL game in a 3-1 win against the Penguins.

April 7, 2018: With two goals in a 5-3 win against the Devils, Ovechkin finishes the season with 49 goals, on his way to his seventh Richard Trophy.

May 7, 2018: Ovechkin has the primary assist on Evgeny Kuznetsov's goal 5:27 into overtime to help the Capitals to a 2-1 win against the Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round. It's their first win in their past eight playoff series against Pittsburgh and they advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in the Ovechkin era.

May 23, 2018: Fittingly, it's Ovechkin with what turns out to be the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the conference final, a 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning to help Washington advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1998.

May 30, 2018: Two days after making his Cup Final debut, Ovechkin scores his first goal of the Final in a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 to give Washington its first Cup Final win in history.

June 7, 2018: Ovechkin scores his 15th goal of the playoffs, setting the Capitals record for the most during a single postseason, and wins the Conn Smythe Trophy after helping Washington to its first Stanley Cup championship with a 4-3 victory against Vegas in Game 5.

March 30, 2019: With two goals in a 6-3 win against the Lightning, Ovechkin gets his 50th and 51st of the season. He becomes the third player in NHL history with at least eight 50-goal seasons, joining Gretzky and Bossy, who each had nine, and goes on to win his eighth Rocket Richard Trophy.

Jan. 19, 2020: Ovechkin scores an empty-net goal to complete his second straight hat trick in a 6-4 win against the New York Islanders. In doing so, he passes Lemieux (690) and ties Steve Yzerman for ninth all time in goals with his 692nd. In his next game on Jan. 30, he scores to pass Yzerman for sole possession of ninth place.

Feb. 1, 2020: With two goals in a 5-3 win against the Senators, including an empty-netter with 15 seconds remaining, Ovechkin ties and passes Mark Messier for eighth all-time in goals with his 695th.

Feb. 22, 2020: Ovechkin becomes the eighth member of the NHL's 700-goal club when he scores in a 3-2 loss at the New Jersey Devils. At 34 years and 158 days, he joined Gretzky (29 years, 342 days) as the only players to reach 700 goals before turning 35.

March 9, 2020: Ovechkin scores his 48th goal of the season in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. He ties for the League lead with David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins before the COVID-19 pandemic cancels the remainder of the regular season. It's his ninth Rocket Richard Trophy.

Feb. 4, 2021: A third-period goal in a 4-2 loss to the Rangers moves Ovechkin into seventh all-time in goals (709), passing Gartner.

March 16, 2021: Continuing his climb up the goals list, Ovechkin moves into sixth place with his 718th career goal in a 3-1 win against the Islanders, passing Phil Esposito.

Oct. 13, 2021: In a season-opening 5-1 win against the Rangers, Ovechkin scores twice, including a short-handed goal (the fifth of his career) to tie and pass Marcel Dionne for fifth all time in goals with 732.

Nov. 12, 2021: A first-period goal in a 4-3 win against the Blue Jackets is the 742nd of his career to pass Brett Hull and move into fourth all-time.

March 15, 2022: Ovechkin scores goal No. 767 in a 4-3 shootout win against the Islanders to pass Jaromir Jagr for third in NHL history.

April 20, 2022: With two goals in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Golden Knights, Ovechkin ties Gretzky and Bossy for the most 50-goal seasons in NHL history with nine.

Nov. 5, 2022: Scores goal No. 787 to break Howe's NHL record for most goals with one team in Washington's 3-2 loss to the Coyotes.

Dec. 13, 2022: Ovechkin becomes the third member of the 800-goal club with a hat trick in a 7-3 victory against the Blackhawks.

Dec. 23, 2022: Ovechkin scores twice in a 4-1 win against the Jets, including goal No. 802 to pass Howe for second all-time.

March 21, 2023: Ovechkin's first-period goal in a 7-6 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets gives him his 13th 40-goal season, passing Gretzky for the most in NHL history. It's also his sixth 40-goal season since turning 30 years old, passing Esposito for most in NHL history.

Dec. 7, 2023: With his assist on Dylan Strome's third-period goal in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Stars, Ovechkin gets point No. 1,500th, the 16th player in NHL history to achieve the feat.

April 9, 2024: Ovechkin scores his 30th goal for an NHL-record 18th season to pass Gartner, who reached the milestone in 17 of his 19 seasons. His goal with eight seconds left in the second period of a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings sets the mark.

Oct. 15, 2024: Two games into his 20th season, Ovechkin has two assists in a 4-2 win against the Golden Knights give him 700 in the NHL.

Feb. 25, 2025: At age 39, Ovechkin extends his NHL record for 30-goal seasons to 19 when he scores No. 884 in a 3-1 loss to the Flames. Three others have had one such season at age 39 or older: Howe (three times from 1967-70), Johnny Bucyk (1975-76) and Selanne (2010-11).

March 9, 2025: Ovechkin scores into an empty net at 18:31 of the third period for NHL point No. 1,600 in his 1,474th game, becoming the 11th player in League history to reach the milestone and seventh with one team.

April 4, 2025: With Gretzky in attendance, Ovechkin scores Nos. 893, 894 in a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Center to tie Gretzky on the all-time list.

April 6, 2025: Ovechkin scores at 7:26 of the second period on the power play against Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders at UBS Arena to become the NHL all-time goals leader.