Alex Ovechkin Ties Wayne Gretzky's All-Time NHL Goalscoring Record with No. 894

Alex Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history.

Ovechkin scored career goals 893 and 894 on Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The goals marked Ovechkin's 40th and 41st of the season in what has been a historically dominant age-39 campaign.

Gretzky was 38 when he scored his record 894th goal on March 29, 1999 during his 20th and final NHL season with the New York Rangers.

It took Gretzky 1,479 regular season games to set a standard previously seen as untouchable. Ovechkin tied the record in the 1,486th regular season game of his career.

Gretzky's record hinged on an unprecedented run of dominance with the 1980s Edmonton Oilers. He became the first and only NHL player to score more than 90 goals in a season in 1982 and topped 70 goals in each of his next three campaigns.

Gretzky's goalscoring rate then dropped off later in his career. He scored nine goals in 70 games during his final NHL season.

Ovechkin, who played through some of the lowest-scoring seasons in modern NHL history, hasn't topped 60 goals in a single season since 2008.

Although Gretzky's goalscoring peaks will remain uncontested, Ovechkin's consistency has been unmatched. Outside of the shortened 2020-21 campaign, Ovechkin hasn't scored fewer than 30 goals in a season since entering the league in 2007.

Ovechkin hit the 30-goal milestone for a record 19th time during his age-39 campaign this season, despite missing over a month of play after suffering a fractured fibula in November.

The Capitals captain will now get the chance to break Gretzky's record in short order.

Washington's next game is scheduled for Sunday against the New York Islanders.