As we approach the final games of the NHL season, we also approach the end of the “Gr8 Chase,” the great storyline this season of Alexander Ovechkin‘s race to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record. Ovechkin currently stands at 889 career goals, and he needs five to tie Gretzky’s record, and six to break it. The Capitals have 11 games left on the season, so it is certainly possible. Let’s take a look at the chase and how Ovechkin can set a new NHL record this season.
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Background
Since arriving in the NHL in 2006, Alex Ovechkin has established himself as one of the sport’s all-time greats and potentially the greatest scorer ever. A Stanley Cup champion in 2017-18, a 3x Hart Trophy winner, and a 12x All-Star, Ovechkin has built a reputation of greatness while spending his entire career with the Washington Capitals. He has led the league in goals in nine of his twenty seasons, scoring as many as 65 in the 2007-08 season, and now, at age 39, has the opportunity to break Wayne Gretzky’s long-sought-after goal-scoring record.
OVECHKIN SECURES GOAL NO. 889
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 26, 2025
Ov sits only 6 goals away from Gretzky #NHL pic.twitter.com/jnEw8g10bm
Widely considered the greatest hockey player of all time and by some, the greatest athlete of all time, Gretzky currently holds the record in goals, assists, and points. An athlete unlike any other in history, Gretzky, year after year, did what was thought to be the impossible. During the 1981-82 season, he scored 92 goals. He consistently put up far more than 100 points, and had four years with over 200. Gretzky had over 100 assists for 11 years in a row.
While it doesn’t seem like anyone will come close to his assists or points record anytime soon, Alex Ovechkin is closing in on Gretzky’s one somehow surpassable record: goals. In 1,487 games, Gretzky scored 894 goals, and Ovechkin has 889 in 1,481 games.
The key to Ovechkin’s success was never a remarkable number of goals in one season. Sure, 65 goals in a year is great, but Gretzky surpassed that several times. Instead, Ovechkin will achieve the all-time goals record through the means of consistency. In his entire 20-year career, there has only been one year in which he scored less than 30 goals, and it was the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Even the season before, which was cut short due to the breakout of the pandemic, Ovechkin managed 48 goals in the 68 games played.
With 36 goals scored this season in 55 games played (he missed some time with a fractured fibula), Ovechkin can very feasibly break the record this season. With 11 games left to play this season, he must score five to tie the record, and six to break it. It’s mind-boggling to think that without several seasons cut short due to either injury or pandemic reasons, Ovechkin would’ve broken the record far earlier.
The Rest of the Season
Ovechkin’s Capitals are currently the top team in the NHL, leading the league with 103 points. They are battling it out for the Presidents’ Trophy with the Winnipeg Jets, who have 102 points. As the regular season comes to a close, the Capitals hardly have to worry about winning their division, or even their conference, for that matter. The playoffs are soon to come, but for now, all eyes are on Ovechkin to tie or break the record.
As the Capitals’ leading goal-scorer even at age 39, Ovechkin is fully expected to be able to break the record. He is at a 43-goal pace this season, factoring in the games he missed due to injury, and needs 42 on the year to break the record. If, somehow, the record is not broken this year, there have been no signs of Ovechkin retiring at the year’s end. He will most likely have next year to surpass Gretzky, but that likely won’t even be necessary. Whether or not you follow hockey closely, it will be interesting to tune into the final games of the regular season to potentially see history be made.
