But even as visitors, the Capitals have heard the chants of "Ovi! Ovi!" after he's scored, most recently after his 885th goal, against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on March 5.
Those moments are special for everyone along for the ride.
"I guess you get special appreciation," former Kings forward Tony Granato said. "Obviously I knew when you get a chance to be on Wayne Gretzky's team and play with him that you're playing with the greatest ever and, 'How lucky can I be to have this opportunity?' But then to be able to, I don't want to say share because that's not the right word. But in a way we all felt pretty special being a small part of it."
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Like with Ovechkin this season, there was hope Gretzky would break the record during that 1993-94 season from the start, but it took time and a lot of work. Ovechkin began this season needing 42 goals to surpass Gretzky and has 33 with 17 games remaining. Gretzky began 1993-94 needing 37 goals to pass Howe.
"He had done so much over the years and was so special for breaking just about every possible record that a scorer could do," said Granato, now a studio analyst for NHL Network and Chicago Blackhawks telecasts on CHSN. "That one just seemed to be the one that was a longer process. It was, 'OK, he's closing in on it. OK, maybe four months from now he's going to get it.'
"So there was kind of a buildup to it that was really cool to watch, like what we're watching with the 'Ovi' chase."
Assists seemed to come easily for Gretzky; he retired in 1999 with 1,963, which still are more than any other NHL player has points (Jaromir Jagr is second in points with 1,921).
But the expectation to score a goal each game with an NHL record within reach brings a certain pressure. Ovechkin has handled it well so far, not going more than three games without scoring this season.
Gretzky's pursuit stalled for a bit after he scored No. 798 to move within four of eclipsing Howe. He scored only once in his next seven games, but the pressure never appeared to impact him.
"I never saw Wayne behave that way," former Kings goalie Kelly Hrudey said. "Though it's interesting because we played eight years together with L.A., and the sixth or seventh year I remember asking him if he ever gets nervous because he never looked it. He looked right at me and he goes, 'I'm nervous for every game.'
"He put that pressure on himself, like all good players, but I never really saw it affect him where I thought maybe he's going to break the record in a month instead of next week or something."
Like Ovechkin this season, Gretzky tried to go about his business as usual and keep the attention on the Kings as a team, even with the hockey world watching his every move.
"He just went about his game every day the way it was," Robitaille said. "Everything around it was like a circus. And I think what was hard with Wayne, and I'm sure it's the same with Ovi, is after the game when probably there's so much more attention with the press, so it's constant. So, that becomes a chore because hockey players, no matter what, they want to go through their normal life where you get ready for the game. And then postgame, if you have a back to back, you want to get on the bus and get on the plane.
"When you're chasing that big of a record, next thing you know everything is a little bit longer because there's so much that goes into it and so many people outside want to meet Alex."
Gretzky broke out of his mini-slump with his 799th goal and three assists in a 7-0 win against the Ottawa Senators. Three games later, he scored Nos. 800 and 801 in a 6-6 tie against the San Jose Sharks.
Granato still bemoans missing a chance to set up Gretzky for a hat trick and the record-breaking goal late in that game at San Jose Arena.
"I remember after 801, I had a 2-on-1 with him," Granato said. "Jayson More was the defenseman, and he played that 2-on-1 differently than I think he would've played every other 2-on-1. I stickhandled it, waiting, waiting, waiting. I tried to do a 'Gretz' to whoever and delayed, delayed, delayed and finally I had to just force the puck to the net because he took Gretz away."
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Gretzky scored No. 802 in the Kings' next game, against the Canucks, finishing off a rush on the power play at 14:47 of the second period. Alexei Zhitnik started the play by intercepting Geoff Courtnall's pass in the defensive zone and passing ahead to Robitaille on the left wing.
Robitaille carried the puck over the blue line before dropping it to Gretzky, who passed across to Marty McSorley, his former Edmonton Oilers teammate, on his right. McSorley returned the puck to Gretzky in the bottom of the left circle, and he shoveled the puck into the net past goalie Kirk McLean to set off the celebration.
"What I remember most is that Marty assisted on the goal," said Hrudey, now an analyst for Sportsnet. "That was cool because they were teammates in Edmonton. Luc got the other assist."
After Robitaille made the drop pass to Gretzky, he drove to the net and ended up having a perfect seat to watch the historic goal. That's because he got knocked down by Canucks defenseman Gerald Diduck.
"I went to the net and ran into [Diduck], so it’s kind of cool that in every painting and every picture I’m on my butt (celebrating)," Robitaille said. "But I do remember when it went in, I was like, 'Oh my God.' I couldn't believe the privilege I felt to be on the ice at that time."
