Ovechkin talks goals record with 'Good Morning America'

Alex Ovechkin was on the national stage Sunday, when he set the NHL all-time goals record, and took to national TV on Wednesday.

The Washington Capitals forward joined "Good Morning America" to discuss being the new NHL goals king, and more.

Ovechkin scored his 895th goal Sunday against the Islanders at UBS Arena, passing Wayne Gretzky for the most all time.

"It was a tremendous moment for hockey, for myself, for the Capitals organization, for all fans, obviously, for my family," Ovechkin said. "Yeah, no one thought this was going to be broken, but it's just a tremendous moment for hockey and for myself. So, thank you very much."

Ovechkin, who is in his 20th season, has scored at least 30 goals 19 times and at least 50 goals nine times. He has 42 goals in 61 games this season.

The 39-year-old left wing got to celebrate on the ice after the goal with his family, and Gretzky offered words of support. Gretzky finished his NHL career with 894 goals over 20 seasons and held the previous record since March 23, 1994, when he scored his 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe.

"You know, he's 'The Great One.' He was the best player in hockey history and to have support from him, it's tremendous. It's such a big honor for me to know him, to have dinner with him, and, obviously, to break his record. And he was there. His family was there. It's the biggest moment in my life, obviously. I still can't believe it's happening, but, yeah, it's a tremendous feeling."

Last month, Ovechkin and the Capitals announced a partnership with the V Foundation and Hockey Fights Cancer, The GR8 Chase for Victory Over Cancer with 100 percent of donations going directly toward pediatric cancer research. Ovechkin himself also pledged to donate for every goal he scores during the remainder of his career. The donations will be matched by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and fans can support this by donating $8, or any amount they can give at v.org/GR8chase.

"For all this attention, for all this [excitement] of breaking that record, we decided to do The V Foundation and raise as much money as we can to help kids and to help bring a smile on their face, energy and I hope we're going to do it more and more," Ovechkin said.

Ovechkin also offered advice to young hockey players who have dreams of breaking his record one day.

"Just keep going working hard and listen to your family, parents, coaches and if you have a dream go for it because you never know what's going to happen," he said.

NHL.com senior writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report