Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goal record. Ovechkin, 39, entered this season needing 42 goals to break Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals, which has stood since 1999. The Washington captain, who scored twice on Friday to tie the record, has 41 goals this season and has six games left to get one more and become the NHL’s all-time leader. Ovechkin scored 15 times in his first 18 games before suffering a fractured left fibula during a Nov. 18 game against the Utah Hockey Club. He has scored 26 times in 42 games since he returned on Dec. 28. This season, he passed Gordie Howe for most goals scored after 30 and set records for game-winning goals, first-period goals and goalies scored against in his career. He moved into second place with 20 consecutive 20-goal seasons and tied the record for most franchises against which he has a hat trick. He became the first player to score 200 goals in three different decades. Here’s a breakdown of Ovechkin’s statistics in the Gretzky chase (through April 4): OVECHKIN VS. GRETZKY: Comparing the two greats CAPITALS SCHEDULE: How Ovechkin has fared vs. remaining teams How many goals does Alex Ovechkin have? Ovechkin has 894 career goals. How many goals does Alex Ovechkin need to pass Wayne Gretzky? Ovechkin has tied Gretzky’s record and needs one more goal to break it. Alex Ovechkin’s goals this season Ovechkin has 41 goals and 27 assists in 60 games, despite missing 16 games with the leg injury. He has played in one less career game than Gretzky. What did Alex Ovechkin do in his last game? Ovechkin scored Nos. 893 and record-tying 894 in Friday’s 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. He wristed a shot from the right faceoff circle past Spencer Knight in the first period after a nice pass from Dylan Strome. His second goal was on the power play in the third period on a shot from his office in the left faceoff circle. Ovechkin didn’t want to be on the ice on an empty-net situation so he wouldn’t break the record that way. He had a couple chances after Ryan Leonard’s empty-netter but Knight stopped him. When is Alex Ovechkin’s next game? The Capitals play Sunday, April 6 at the New York Islanders. Ovechkin has 44 goals in 71 career regular-season games against the Islanders. Alex Ovechkin vs. Wayne Gretzky stats Games: Gretzky 1,487 | Ovechkin 1,486 Goals: Gretzky 894 | Ovechkin 894 Assists: Gretzky 1,963 | Ovechkin 724 Points: Gretzky 2,857 | Ovechkin 1,618 Alex Ovechkin goals in 2024-25 Oct. 19: 1 vs. New Jersey Oct. 23: 1 vs. Philadelphia Oct. 29: 2 vs. N.Y. Rangers Oct. 31: 1 vs. Montreal Nov. 2: 1 vs. Columbus Nov. 3: 1 vs. Carolina Nov. 6: 1 vs. Nashville Nov. 9: 2 vs. St. Louis Nov. 17: 3 vs. Vegas Nov. 18: 2 vs. Utah Dec. 28: 1 vs. Toronto Dec. 29: 1 vs. Detroit Jan. 2: 1 vs. Minnesota Jan. 4: 1 vs. N.Y. Rangers Jan. 11: 1 vs. Nashville Jan. 16: 1 vs. Ottawa Jan. 23: 1 vs. Seattle Jan. 30: 1 vs. Ottawa Feb 1: 1 vs. Winnipeg Feb. 4: 1 vs. Florida Feb. 6: 1 vs. Philadelphia Feb. 23: 3 vs. Edmonton Feb. 25: 1 vs. Calgary March 1: 1 vs. Tampa Bay March 5: 1 vs. N.Y. Rangers March 9: 1 vs. Seattle March 15: 1 vs. San Jose March 19: 1 vs. Philadelphia March 25: 1 vs. Winnipeg March 30: 1 vs. Buffalo April 1: 1 vs. Boston April 2: 1 vs. Carolina April 4: 2 vs. Chicago Alex Ovechkin career goals breakdown Even strength: 565, third overall Power play: 324, a record Short-handed: 5 Empty net: 65, a record Game winners: 136, a record Overtime goals: 27, a record Multi-goal games: 179, second overall Goalies scored against: 182, a record Hat tricks: 32, tied for fifth overall. Ovechkin has hat tricks against 20 franchises, tying Brett Hull’s record. 20-goal seasons: 20, tied for second 30-goal seasons: 19, a record 40-goal seasons: 14, a record Alex Ovechkin empty-net goals Ovechkin has a record 65 empty-net goals, but Gretzky is up there, too, with 56. Ovechkin passed Gretzky in that category last season. Alex Ovechkin goals by season Season: Goals, career total 2005-06: 52, 52 2006-07: 46, 98 2007-08: 65*, 163 2008-09: 56*, 219 2009-10: 50, 269 2010-11: 32, 301 2011-12: 38, 339 2012-13: 32*, 371 2013-14: 51*, 422 2014-15: 53*, 475 2015-16: 50*, 525 2016-17: 33, 558 2017-18: 49*, 607 2018-19: 51*, 658 2019-20: 48*, 706 2020-21: 24, 730 2021-22: 50, 780 2022-23: 42, 822 2023-24: 31, 853 2024-25: 41, 894 *-led league in goals that season NHL all-time goal scorers The top 21 NHL all-time goal scorers all have 600 or more goals. All of the players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, except Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Jaromir Jagr, who are still playing. 1. Wayne Gretzky, 894 goals in 1,487 games 2. Alex Ovechkin, 894 goals in 1,486 games 3. Gordie Howe, 801 goals in 1,767 games 4. Jaromir Jagr, 766 goals in 1,733 games 5. Brett Hull, 741 goals in 1,269 games 6. Marcel Dionne, 731 in 1,348 games 7. Phil Esposito, 717 goals in 1,282 games 8. Mike Gartner, 708 goals in 1,432 games 9. Mark Messier, 694 goals in 1,756 games 10. Steve Yzerman, 692 goals in 1,514 games 11. Mario Lemieux, 690 goals in 915 games 12. Teemu Selanne, 684 goals in 1,451 games 13. Luc Robitaille, 668 goals in 1,431 games 14. Brendan Shanahan, 656 goals in 1,524 games 15. Dave Andreychuk, 640 goals in 1,639 games 16. Joe Sakic, 625 goals in 1,378 games 17. Jarome Iginla, 625 goals in 1,554 games 18. Sidney Crosby, 619 goals in 1,346 games 19. Bobby Hull, 610 goals in 1,063 games 20. Dino Ciccarelli, 608 goals in 1,232 games 21. Jari Kurri, 601 goals in 1,251 games ESPN+, truTV to present OviCast ESPN announced it would present an OviCast on ESPN+ broadcasts on April 10, 12, 15 and 17. Each OviCast will feature an isolated camera on Ovechkin in one box with record-breaking information below, alongside the traditional game feed in a second box with his game stats. TNT will do something similar on truTV during its April 6 broadcast. This post appeared first on USA TODAY