Ovechkin becomes NHL's all-time goals leader with No. 895

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Alex Ovechkin dove into NHL history with a record-breaking shot from a familiar spot and a celebration fitting his fun-loving legacy.

The Washington Capitals left wing passed Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL’s all-time leader in goals by scoring his 895th in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday.

After his wrist shot from his power-play office in the left circle whistled into the net past goalie Ilya Sorokin’s blocker at 7:26 of the second period, Ovechkin turned and belly flopped onto ice, sliding over the blue line in a joyful celebration reminiscent of his splashing in a Georgetown fountain in the days following Washington’s Stanley Cup win in 2018.

“This is something crazy,” Ovechkin said. “I'm probably going to need a couple more days or maybe a couple weeks to realize what does it mean to be No. 1. But I can say I'm very proud. I'm really proud for myself. I'm really proud for my family, for all my teammates that help me to reach that milestone and for all my coaches.

“It's huge. It's unbelievable. It's an unbelievable moment and I'm happy.”

Ovechkin explained his belly flop as accidental.

“Ice was bad today,” he said. “So, I fell and I’m pretty sure it’s a pretty cool moment.”

It seemed fitting for the 39-year-old, who still plays with the same youthful exuberance he had when he debuted as a 20-year-old rookie and scored twice in his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 5, 2005.

“That looked very much like a fountain dive,” injured Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said.

Nicklas Backstrom, Ovechkin’s longtime center who is also injured, agreed.

“Loved it,” Backstrom said.

Other than the outcome of the game, everything about the day seemed perfect for Ovechkin, the Capitals, and the NHL: from Backstrom and Oshie being on hand despite not playing this season, to Gretzky’s grace in cheering for and lauding Ovechkin, to the way the goal was scored.

Like Ovechkin’s 894th goal, a third period power-play goal in 5-3 home victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, the goal came from the place from which Ovechkin has scored so many times in his 20-season NHL career. In fact, he has scored 393 of his 895 goals (43.9 percent) from the left circle or above it, according to NHL.com charting.

The sellout crowd of 17,255, including a large contingent of Capitals fans who traveled from Washington, seemed to sense the goal coming when Islanders forward Casey Cizikas was called for tripping at 7:00, giving the Capitals their first power play of the game. After taking the ice to chants of “Ovi! Ovi!”, Ovechkin and the Capitals first power-play unit needed only 26 seconds to cash in.

Taking a pass from Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson carried the puck into the Islanders zone on the right wing before sliding the puck across to Ovechkin. He skated into it at the top of the left circle and whipped a shot in past Sorokin on the short side for his 325th power-play goal, increasing his NHL-record total.

“We had a perfect view,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Because that puck comes lateral, and ‘O's’ coming in on the left side. And this is the true greatness of Alex Ovechkin: I saw, there was nothing. I couldn't even see Sorokin, let alone netting. And he shoots that puck, and I didn't even know how it went in.

“I don't know how it got through all the different bodies and the screen …. and it finds a way through and beats him short side. It's the ultimate goal-scorer's goal for the greatest of all time.”

The Capitals flooded off the bench and mobbed Ovechkin at center ice. The Islanders stood near their bench and applauded and tapped their sticks with respect to Ovechkin and the historic moment.

“I thought it was perfect,” said Strome, who has assisted on 21 of Ovechkin’s 42 goals this season. “Everything about it was perfect: the way he shot it, the way he wound up and shot it. I think it was a picture-perfect goal.”

The game was paused for a 15-minute ceremony, featuring NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Gretzky offering their congratulations.

“We have all just witnessed history in front of greatness,” Commissioner Bettman said. “Wayne, you’ll always be “The Great One’ and you had a record that nobody ever thought could be broken, but Alex, you did it. You have been amazing.”

Wearing a No. 9 pin on his jacket lapel to honor Gordie Howe, who held the goal record before him, Gretzky fulfilled the promise he first made in 2020 to shake Ovechkin’s hand when he passed him. Ovechkin responded with a hug.

“They say records are made to be broken,” Gretzky said, “but I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that.”

Gretzky had held at least of share of the NHL goal record since scoring his 800th and 801st goals, while playing for the Los Angeles Kings, to tie Howe, against San Jose Sharks on March 20, 1994. Gretzky scored his 802nd goal to pass Howe in the Kings’ next game against the Vancouver Canucks on March 23, 1994.

The 64-year-old retired after the 1998-99 season with 894 goals in 1,487 games during 20 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. Ovechkin has 895 goals, by a fitting coincidence, also in 1,487 games in 20 seasons, all with the Capitals.

In another piece of symmetry, Ovechkin’s record-break goal came on the 21st anniversary of the Capitals winning the 2004 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select him with the No. 1 pick -- April 6, 2004.

“It's great,” Ovechkin said. “It's great for the game. It's great for D.C. It's great for Washington. It's great for us to be involved for this moment. I'm pretty sure right now in D.C. it's something crazy's happening and especially at home in Russia. Like right now people celebrate, people are happy and I'm just happy to be a part of it.”

Ovechkin’s mother Tatyana, wife, Nastya, and their sons Sergei, 6, and Ilya, 4, joined the celebration in the Capitals’ post-game locker room along with Gretzky, Bettman, Backstrom, Oshie and a host of others.

Some wondered if Ovechkin would catch Gretzky this season, particularly after me missed 16 games with a fractured left fibula from Nov. 21-Dec. 23. Despite facing intense attention in every game and shift he played, Ovechkin finished his record chase with a strong kick by scoring in five straight games with six goals during the surge.

“When he's hot, he's hot and he's been hot for the last four or five games,” Strome said. “The guy does it all.”

Backstrom, who assisted on 279 of Ovechkin’s goals, more than any player, before a hip injury forced him to stop playing last season, wasn’t surprised.

“I said this before the game on Friday,” Backstrom said. “I said, ‘You know what? This is the Ovi we know.’ When he’s close to a milestone or record, he does it right away. That’s who he is.”