Ovechkin Skates Down Gretzky | Defector

It might have seemed like excessive prudence to send the traveling party out that early. The full suite of people on hand for the Capitals’ game in Carolina on Wednesday, in anticipation of Alexander Ovechkin chasing down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goalscoring record, included Ovechkin’s family, Gary Bettman and a host of NHL executives, and Gretzky himself. At the time, Ovechkin was three goals away from tying, four from passing; it raised the specter of an extended chase that would see the traveling party fruitlessly jetting around the country for weeks, waiting for goals. But the prudence was warranted. This is Alex Ovechkin. You don’t threaten Gretzky’s mark without, you know, scoring a lot of goals.

Ovechkin scored No. 892 on Wednesday, and on Friday at home against the Blackhawks, put up a pair of goals to tie Gretzky at 894. It was his fourth and fifth goals in his last four games; the 39-year-old has looked invigorated by the chase. Which in itself is a tribute to his otherworldliness: energy and desire are all well and good, but it is still very difficult to score a goal, yet in 2025 as in 2005, Ovechkin makes it look like a matter of will.

He got on the scoresheet early, camping in the slot and finishing a centering pass from Dylan Strome 3:52 into the game. Goal 894, on the other hand, was classic stuff: a one-timer from the left circle, off a pass from John Carlson, who’s assisted on 158 of these in his career. It was a timeless sort of Ovi goal—the helper could’ve been Carlson, or Strome, or Tom Wilson or Nicklas Backstrom or, hell, Dainius Zubrus—lots of teammates over the last 20 years have figured out that things happen when you get Ovechkin the puck over there. A lot of goalies, from Pascal Leclaire on No.1 to Spencer Knight on No. 894, have learned that too.

Ovechkin, with a huge grin on his face, raised his arms before being swarmed by his teammates. He took a few laps of the ice as play stopped for a mostly impromptu ceremony—the real one is scheduled for the next goal, the tiebreaking goal, perhaps as soon as Sunday afternoon vs. the Islanders—where he blew kisses to the crowd, fist-bumped his son through the glass, and bowed toward the box where Gretzky was sitting.

And then a funny thing happened. The Blackhawks, down a goal, pulled their goalie, and Caps head coach Spencer Carbery asked Ovechkin if he wanted to try to break the record against an empty net. Ovechkin told him no. “I don’t want an empty net,” Ovechkin said afterward.

The Capitals did get an empty-netter to seal the 5-3 win, and it was the first career goal for Ryan Leonard. Leonard got to chat with Gretzky after the game. “The young man that got his first goal tonight said, ‘Only have 895 to go to pass Alex,'” Gretzky said.

“It’s cool to score your first,” Leonard said, “but that guy’s scored a lot of goals, so I think it’s even cooler.” Arguably true. You only get one first goal, Only two guys get their 894th. Two so far.

If I’m spending what seem like excessive column inches mentioning a 20-year-old rookie, it’s because Ovechkin’s longevity encourages thinking about generations. Could Wayne Gretzky have imagined breaking the record of his childhood hero Gordie Howe? Could Gary Bettman have imagined, after witnessing that, that while he was still commissioner he’d watch someone else break Gretzky’s record? Perhaps, at this moment, there’s some kid skating in some dilapidated old barn, or taking shots in his driveway, who’ll surpass Ovi someday. It feels unlikely—frankly, it feels impossible that any player could match Ovechkin’s combination of durability and firepower. Hell, it still feels impossible that he could score 41 goals in an age-39 season in which he broke his damn leg. But great ones keep coming along. And they don’t get to keep it all to themselves: Greatness is a torch, to be carried for a while before being passed.