Russian Star Ovechkin Chases More Than Just Goals in Pursuit of Gretzky’s All-Time Scoring Record

Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals shoots against the Toronto Maple Leafs during overtime at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 2024. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin has long been a goon goal-scorer, meaning he powers along the ice, sinking his blades firmly into the frozen surface and frequently cracking pucks toward the net with the force of a hundred slapshots.

Because of that, Ovechkin, who notched his 31st career hat trick on Sunday in a 5-2 victory over the Las Vegas Golden Knights, tends to leave a deep impression on the ice that follows him as he chases Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record for National Hockey League goals. He’s second on the list, only 27 goals shy of Gretzky, and he’ll be stuck at that number for a while after leaving with a lower-body injury in the third period of Monday’s 6-2 victory over the Utah Hockey Club.

Ovechkin is listed as week to week. Meanwhile, Gretzky was year to year the most graceful skater in the sport. His glide and stride brought the kind of artistry to the game that made figure skating judges want to scribble a perfect score on a card and fling it to the ice during a sport that is often brutal.

Ovechkin is a masher who has been nearly impossible to stop during his brilliant career, which includes capturing the Stanley Cup in 2018. The winger, who turned 39 in September, is expected to surpass the goal record this season or next. But shooting past Gretzky’s shine is an impossible target.

Gretzky, known as “The Great One,” seemed to barely make a dent in the ice as he darted around defenders with his talent-rich Edmonton Oilers, for whom he spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career before moving to the Los Angeles Kings–the second of his four teams.

Gretzky, who won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton dynasty of the 1980s, was a master skater who could outmaneuver opponents and score in just about every way imaginable.

Old No. 99 had the shot. He had the speed. He had the victories, and he brought the toughness when needed.

The Great One walked away as the NHL’s top scorer when he announced his retirement on April 16, 1999, after netting 894 times in 1,487 games. He’s also the all-time leader in assists, points and scores of other NHL records.

Gretzky also had sidekicks such as Yari Kurri, Mark Messier, Marty McSorley, and Paul Coffey, to name just some, who helped him reach great heights in an era during which goals were easy to come by. But Edmonton was a traveling troupe of hockey experts with loads of talent, and the group also knew exactly how to embarrass opponents.

Ovechkin, also known as the “Great 8“ and ”Ovi,” is not a big playmaker. He also hasn’t had the fortune of playing alongside a collection of all-time great teammates and can’t compare to Gretzky when it comes to his number of NHL records. In fact, the Washington captain is mostly a big bopper who stands out on his own despite not having a deft scoring touch or big-time speed.

But Ovechkin has humiliated his share of netminders, smashing one-time shots from his office in the faceoff circles to the sides of goalies. The Russian blast-master has slapped an NHL-record 316 of his 868 goals on the power play, while Gretzky netted 204—only good enough for 18th on the all-time list.

Ovechkin also gets dinged for leading the NHL all-time in empty-net goals with 59, three more than The Great One.

He doesn’t score in a multitude of ways, yet he was leading the NHL this season in goals with 15 after scoring twice against Utah on Monday. Despite some shortcomings, Ovechkin has drawn public praise from Gretzky as the Washington forward pursues this magical goal.

“I say this all the time: It’s been great for the NHL, great for Washington, great for Russia, great for the community,” Gretzky said in a January 2023 interview on NBC Sports Washington.

Wayne Gretzky addresses fans prior to the 2020 NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo., on Jan. 24, 2020. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Great One isn’t turned off by the one-dimensional style of Ovechkin’s game. In fact, he lauded Ovechkin’s ability to blister pucks through defenses designed to stop him.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” Gretzky said. “Everybody knows where he’s coming from, right? It’s pretty obvious where he’s going to be and what he’s going to do, and what he’s thinking about doing, but that’s what makes him so special.”

Still, a number of fans don’t see Ovechkin as someone adequate enough in talent to take over the NHL’s most prestigious honor. And they are welcoming a decline in goal-scoring that has become evident in Ovechkin’s numbers in recent seasons.

While Ovechkin has jumped out to a fast start this season, his 31 goals in the 2023-24 campaign represented the first time he had fewer than 40 tallies in a season during which he played at least 70 games since the 2016-17 run (33 markers). And he’s injured at the moment.

Ovi has been relatively durable and very reliable on a team that has often been disappointing. But team results and fan opinions aside, Ovechkin is apparently focused on the record.

“He’s going to do it, it’s just a question of when is he going to do it,” said former NHL coach Bruce Boudreau, now a commentator. “I think in a perfect world, we’d all like to see him do it in the same [season], like this [season]. And it be in an important game at the end of the [season],” Boudreau said in a telecast in September.

“I think it’ll take two years, and, unfortunately, I think it’ll be early November next year that he’ll get the record. But he’s going to play, and he’s going to play until he gets the record, that I can guarantee you.”

Ovechkin might get there—doubt has crept in as he ages less than gracefully in this era—but he’ll always remain a sidebar to the story of The Great One because his overall game is not nearly on the same level.