How Alex Ovechkin became the top goal-scorer in NHL history

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This article was published 06/04/2025 (217 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Ovechkin became the greatest goal scorer in NHL history because of a never-before-seen combination of a wicked shot, consistency over two decades and remarkable durability that kept him on the ice long enough to break Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal Sunday against the New York Islanders, passing Gretzky with a flair for the dramatic that has marked the Russian superstar’s career, now in its 20th NHL season.

How did Ovechkin rewrite a record many thought would never be broken when Gretzky retired?

Ovechkin’s shot

Gretzky was a dazzler, an artist on skates who would fool defensemen and goaltenders alike with his moves, not to mention a surprising and baffling shot. His scoring came no matter the situation, including a record 73 short-handed, while Ovechkin had just five that way.

While Gretzky might be described as mesmerizing, Ovechkin brought sheer power and strength. His shot — described as peculiarly “heavy” by the goalies and defenseman tasked with stopping it — was laser-like. Adding Ilya Sorokin on the record-breaker, Ovechkin has beaten a record 183 netminders on this journey, including 28 times on Marc-Andre Fleury.

“I don’t like getting scored on by him, but I love the battle over the years,” Fleury once said. “I feel fortunate I was able to play in this time. He probably owes me a few things for scoring so many goals on me. I helped it out pretty good. I’m glad I got to face him.”

The office

Gretzky’s favorite way of scoring was off the rush or deking a goalie out of his pads. His “office” was behind the net where he could start a play that wound up with him lighting the lamp but more often led to one of his astounding 1,963 assists, a league record that will never be touched.

Not Ovechkin. So many of his NHL-record 325 power-play goals have come from his spot in the left faceoff circle. The puck getting to Ovechkin and him blasting his right-handed rocket of a one-timer into the net is what he is most known for.

Consistency and longevity

At the age of 39, Ovechkin reached 40 goals in a season for a 14th time — the most in league history — by adapting and adding more variety of scoring to his repertoire.

Just that he is still excelling in his late 30s is a testament to Ovechkin playing through pain that would sideline others and managing to avoid some of the long-term injuries that would have slowed this pursuit. And he got the record this season even after missing 16 games with a broken left fibula.

His offseason workouts changed as he got older, from weight-training to off-ice sprinting, though his teammates note he still seems to eat what he wants, when he wants.

“Obviously impressive that he hasn’t missed a lot of hockey games, which is incredible,” said Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on nearly 300 of Ovechkin’s goals. “If you ask players around the league, I don’t think one player will say you play with not feeling anything for 80 games, at least. That’s just part of hockey culture, I think, and obviously he’s done it better than others.”

Even so, few thought any player would get close to Gretzky, who has been the record-holder for the most goals since passing Gordie Howe with his 802nd goal on March 23, 1994. Gretzky has 54 other records, including 2,857 total points.

Ovechkin won’t touch that one — but he does have another year on his Capitals contract, so he will have plenty of chances to add to his scoring record.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL