Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record by scoring his 895th

By STEPHEN WHYNO NEW YORK AP Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky s record for the the greater part goals in NHL history by scoring the th of his career The Washington Capitals captain made history Sunday against the New York Islanders by beating fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin on a power play in the second period Ovechkin had never scored on Sorokin before making his countryman the rd different goaltender he has beaten Just as they did after he scored No minutes earlier teammates mobbed the -year-old Russian to celebrate the accomplishment which replaced a record that had stood for years Gretzky s total of goals had long seemed unapproachable Ovechkin passed it even after missing games in November and December because of a broken left leg a testament to his durability and a knack for putting the puck in the net consistently for two decades He surpassed goals this season for a th time two more than Gretzky and also the majority in league history Even before this Ovechkin owned the NHL records for power-play goals shots on goal and the most of goalies scored against now adding Sorokin to that list Only Gretzky has more multi-goal games and Ovechkin earlier this season became just the sixth performer with goals and assists joining Gretzky Gordie Howe Jaromir Jagr Marcel Dionne and Phil Esposito Ovechkin last moved up the all-time goal-scoring list Dec when he got Nos and to tie and pass Howe The chase by the Great a nickname honoring his jersey number captured attention from North America to Ovechkin s native Russia where billboards and goal-counters cheered on and tracked his effort It helped Ovechkin that his association is one of the best in the NHL this season defying expectations Gretzky broke Howe s record a little over years ago since he scored on March He added more before retiring in after a total of games over seasons Even with this one falling to Ovechkin which he has mentioned he is excited about Gretzky holds NHL records and two seem truly untouchable total points and assists the latter of which is more than anyone else has in goals and assists combined For NHL playoff goals which do not count toward the record Gretzky has the largest part Ovechkin has Gretzky also had another in the World Hockey Association regular season and playoffs while Ovechkin has from his time in the KHL Russia s top league Returning to Russia to play in front of family and friends is an option at particular point for Ovechkin who has one season left after this one on the five-year million contract he signed in which took him through age to give him enough time to chase Gretzky s record Instead he got it done earlier than just about anyone could have realistically expected AP NHL https apnews com hub nhl