A record that was once seen as untouchable now belongs to Ovechkin.
Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal came in fitting fashion—on the power play, from his signature spot at the top of the left circle. He beat fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin clean, notching his first career goal against the Islanders' netminder in the process.
🎙️ “The chasing days are done!!! Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL!” - Joe Beninati’s call of Ovi’s record-breaking goal. #ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/wKUgkbwL0T
This goal was originally projected to happen on April 12th against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it’s no longer something they’ll have to worry about defending.
The Blue Jackets will face the Capitals on April 12th and 13th in what will be their final back-to-back of the season. But now, they'll be part of the post-record rather than the spotlight of breaking the record itself.
Ovechkin has officially rewritten history—and the NHL has a new all-time goal king.
ELMONT, NY -- Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals scored in National Hockey League history against the New York Islanders.
At 7:26 of the second, he beat Ilya Sorokin blocker side on the power play for goal No. 895, sending UBS Arena into a frenzy:
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In the second period of the Islanders’ matchup with the Washington Capitals, Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal, surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the most ever.
Trailing 2-0, the Capitals found themselves on the power play, allowing Ovechkin, who has the most power-play goals in NHL history, to put his name in the record books as he wristed one past Ilya Sorokin for the record-breaking goal.
With the Islanders’ crowd chanting “Ovi, Ovi,” the games was stopped for a ceremony to allow Ovechkin to fully soak in the moment, as he officially became the greatest goal scorer in NHL history.
With just four career goals and 32 points, some wondered how Sanderson could already be getting paid close to what superstar defenseman Cale Makar makes with the Colorado Avalanche.
This season, as that hefty new contract has kicked in, no one is talking in negative terms anymore.
When former Senators GM Pierre Dorion signed Sanderson to that contract, there was already a lot to like about the player, in particular a powerful skating stride that serves him so well in both short and long races for the puck—often erasing the rookie mistakes he'd sometimes make. Dorion was banking on the belief that the next-level, higher-end offensive production, his one missing ingredient, would eventually come as he continued to get more comfortable in the league.
He was right. So right.
On Saturday night, Sanderson had a goal and an assist to help lead the Senators past the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, 3-0. That gave him 53 points on the season and briefly moved him into the top ten in NHL scoring among defensemen, one spot ahead of former Senator Erik Karlsson (Sanderson slipped to 11th later in the day).
This new spike of offence has been a nice add-on to all the other things Sanderson does well. For example, in the past two games, some of the moves and breakout passes Sanderson managed to pull off to get the Senators out of heavy forecheck trouble were truly outstanding.
Sanderson now has 28 points in his past 28 games, a run that began in late January as we began to approach the NHL 4 Nations tournament. So he's almost doubled his points percentage (0.53) from the first 47 games this season, when he put up just 25 points. As the Sens stumbled into March on a five-game losing slide, Sanderson's breakout has been a game-changer in bolstering Ottawa’s playoff hopes.
Back in early February, Sanderson foreshadowed his imminent improvements in a conversation with The Hockey News.
"Yeah, at the start of season, I wasn't feeling myself," Sanderson said. "Right now, I feel pretty good. My energy is really good on the ice. I haven't scored in a while, but I'm getting a lot of chances, and that's all I can ask for. So, you know, they're gonna go in eventually."
Perhaps being talked about for a best-on-best tournament and then actually playing in it isn't bad for a 22-year-old's confidence. Sanderson described the 4 Nations experience as "life-changing," and maybe sometime this summer, he'll have a chance to reflect on individual accomplishments. But right now, he's all about helping the team get to the playoffs.
"We're confident where we are right now," Sanderson told the media last week. "We know we're playing good hockey. So at the end of the day, if we're losing, honestly, we're just beating ourselves. But yeah, like I said, we feel pretty confident right now."
Even with the full focus on the team at the moment, the way Sanderson is playing now makes it impossible not to notice the individual excellence. In Saturday's victory over Florida, Sanderson even made a little history, becoming the first defenseman in Ottawa Senators history with a four-game home goal streak.
With Sanderson not even through the first year of his contract and now locked up in Ottawa until 2032, his deal is already highly club-friendly. Based on the way the past two months have gone, we're betting it won't be much longer before it's regarded as one of the very best contracts in the NHL.
Alex Ovechkin is now the top goalscorer in NHL history.Photograph: Adam Hunger/AP
“He’s definitely a very, very, very good player,” the Washington Capitals’ director of amateur scouting, Ross Mahoney, told reporters on the night of the NHL entry draft in June 2004. He was talking about Alex Ovechkin, who the team picked first overall that night. “How good will he be?” Mahoney asked. “Time will tell.” Now, nearly 21 years later, time has had its say. On Sunday afternoon in a game against the New York Islanders, Ovechkin scored his 895th goal, passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL scoring record, a tally that had stood since 29 March 1999 and that few believed would ever be broken.
Had things been slightly different in 2004, we might have been having this conversation a year ago. The NHL season after Ovechkin’s draft – the 2004-05 campaign – never happened, replaced instead by a long dispute between the league and the players’ union. Ovechkin bided his time in Russia, where he played 37 games with Dynamo Moscow. Finally, in autumn of 2005, he stepped on to NHL ice for Washington and, as Mahoney – and everyone else – expected by that time, he proved immediately to be a very good player. Ovechkin scored two goals in his first game, the first of an eventual 52 on the season (alongside 54 assists).
That rookie year tally included what is still regarded as one of the most impressive, and improbable, goals of all time. During a game against the Phoenix Coyotes, Ovechkin somehow scored while sliding along the ice on his back, facing away from the Coyotes net. “It was unbelievable,” Auston Matthews, who was eight at the time and at the game that night, later recalled. “Nobody really cheered, they really couldn’t get their heads wrapped around what just happened. It was pretty crazy.” Also not cheering was the coach standing behind the Coyotes’ bench that night: Wayne Gretzky.
When Ovechkin helped bring the Stanley Cup to Washington in 2018, the first in the team’s history, he fulfilled the expectations that had followed him for his 12 NHL seasons to that point. And it certainly seemed like he knew it. Nobody celebrated with the Cup quite like Ovi did – nor, frankly, has anyone done it with the same reckless abandon since. The Cup also meant that Ovechkin solidified himself among the greats – as a man capable of scoring, but also winning. On that count, until Ovi began to close in on Gretzky’s goal record, he was most closely compared to Sidney Crosby, who entered the NHL a season after Ovechkin. The two have never been exactly stylistically identical, yet their points totals have tracked along eerily similar trajectories for the entirety of their careers. But until the Caps’ Cup, Crosby – with three championships – was usually regarded as the more accomplished player overall. While Ovechkin’s goal record may not fully balance things out, it seems fitting that, with it, the two players will likely be regarded in the long run as equals – the best examples of what the NHL has to offer.
On the ice, anyway. Elsewhere, Ovechkin’s astonishing playing career may always be accompanied by an asterisk: a note about his unsavory, full-throated support for Vladimir Putin. In 2017, Ovechkin launched Putin Team, a social movement that, as he wrote in an Instagram post at the time, “unites people who are proud of their country and want to make Russia stronger.” It went on to say that Putin Team was for people who valued Putin’s “trust in and respect for his people, his fairness [and] righteousness, and the fact that he really cares.” Ovechkin recruited other Russian athletes to the cause, including Crosby’s longtime Pittsburgh Penguins teammate, Evgeny Malkin. In a separate post at the time, Ovechkin wrote that “I never hid my relationship with [Putin], always openly supported him.” Indeed, Ovechkin stood alongside Putin in his Instagram profile photo.
In 2022, after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Ovechkin was less open about the closeness of that relationship, but fell well short of criticizing the Russian leader. Unlike fellow Russian NHLer Artemi Panarin – who said, among other things, that Putin “no longer understands what’s right and what’s wrong” – Ovechkin only said that he didn’t want to see anyone get hurt or killed in the conflict and that he hoped “it was going to be over and we are going to be living in a good world.” As for whether he still supported Putin, Ovechkin said, “Well, he’s my president, but [like] I said, I’m not in politics, I’m an athlete.”
Obviously, that’s never really been true for Ovechkin, but it also feels increasingly that it can’t be true for anyone. When Ovi started out, perhaps athletes could more easily separate their sport persona with the world beyond the game. But over the course of the two decades of Ovechkin’s career, the political and cultural environment has changed significantly, as has the broad perspective of past actions. Now, nobody is free from scrutiny, and whatever dotted line that some athletes once tried to draw between politics from sports in the past, is now gone. Even Gretzky isn’t immune. Where for decades Gretzky was considered untouchable, his own recent close association with a controversial politician, Donald Trump, has undermined his greatness in the eyes of many of his fellow Canadians. The Great One is now, as they say, The Great Once.
Ovechkin is still great, as far as the hockey goes. That’s undeniable. But just as on his draft day only time could tell how great a player he’d be, history will now dictate how great he is ultimately considered to have been. When he talked to reporters after the game in Phoenix in 2006 where Ovechkin scored his greatest goal, Gretzky said it was “pretty nice.” “He’s a phenomenal player ... He deserves all the accolades he’s getting.” That’s still true. But by the same token, he will deserve everything else, too.
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history by scoring the 895th 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 183rd different goaltender he has beaten.
Just as they did after he scored No. 894 minutes earlier, teammates mobbed the 39-year-old Russian to celebrate the accomplishment, which replaced a record that had stood for 31 years.
Gretzky’s total of 894 goals had long seemed unapproachable. Ovechkin passed it even after missing 16 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 40 goals this season for a 14th time — two more than Gretzky and also the most in league history.
Even before this, Ovechkin owned the NHL records for power-play goals, shots on goal and the most 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 player with 700 goals and 700 assists, joining Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne and Phil Esposito.
Ovechkin last moved up the all-time goal-scoring list Dec. 23, 2022, when he got Nos. 801 and 802 to tie and pass Howe.
The chase by the Great 8, 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 team is one of the best in the NHL this season, defying expectations.
Gretzky broke Howe’s record a little over 31 years ago, since he scored 802 on March 23, 1994. He added 92 more before retiring in 1999 after a total of 1,487 games over 20 seasons.
Even with this one falling to Ovechkin — which he has said he is excited about — Gretzky holds 55 NHL records, and two seem truly untouchable: 2,857 total points and 1,963 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 most (122). Ovechkin has 72. Gretzky also had another 56 in the World Hockey Association regular season and playoffs, while Ovechkin has 57 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 some point for Ovechkin, who has one season left after this one on the five-year, $47.5 million contract he signed in 2021, which took him through age 40 to give him enough time to chase Gretzky’s record. Instead, he got it done earlier than just about anyone could have realistically expected.
After nabbing a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers last night, the Montreal Canadiens will try to win a fifth game in a row when they take on the Nashville Predators on Sunday night. The hosts are on the opposite end of the spectrum, having lost their last five games in regulation. The Habs have bounced back after a five-game losing streak and are now 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, while the Preds are 2-8-0 in the same span.
The two teams have crossed paths once this season so far, with Montreal blanking Nashville 3-0 with Samuel Montembeault. Jake Evans, Patrik Laine, and Joel Armia had scored on the night.
There is no confirmation of who will be in the Canadiens' net and no pregame media availability. Montembeault was on duty last night, but I believe he'll be there if he says he’s good to go. He has a 4-1-0 record against Nashville with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage, while Jakub Dobes has never taken them on. Juuse Saros will be manning the home net; he has a 5-1-1 record against Montreal with a 2.89 GAA and .929 SP.
The Canadiens have not confirmed if Josh Anderson will be back in action. He missed Saturday night’s game for family reasons, and given the timing, it’s highly likely his wife has or is giving birth to the couple’s first child. Oliver Kapanen, who filled in for him on Saturday, played well, and Martin St-Louis said he could see the progress in his game after the months he spent in the SHL. After the game, Brendan Gallagher gave the youngster the man of the match’s glasses as a welcome back.
Up front, Patrik Laine is the Canadiens’ most productive forward against Nashville. With 11 points in 25 games, he’s the only Hab who has hit double digits. Brendan Gallagher is in second place with nine points in 17 games, and Joel Armia is third with an eight-point output in 19 games. Cole Caufield only has seven points, but he got them in the same number of games.
On the other side, Steven Stamkos has 50 points in 52 duels against the Canadiens, Ryan O’Reilly is in second place with 27 points in 30 games, and Jonathan Marchesseault completes the top three with 17 points in 21 games. Barry Trotz went all out on the free agency market last Summer, but the results have been disastrous. The Predators are 30th in the league with 62 points, and the GM will need to be creative this Summer if he wants to turn things around.
Even if they are going through a tough stretch, the Preds have won six of the last ten duels between the two teams. While Montreal has got a four-point lead in the second wild card spot, now is not the time to take their foot off the pedal. The Columbus Blue Jackets, the Detroit Red Wings, and the New York Islanders are all in action on this busy Sunday in the NHL. According to Moneypuck.com, Montreal has a 74.2% chance of making the Spring dance.
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The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up their brief two-game Western Canada road trip with a Saturday matinee against the Vancouver Canucks. The Ducks were coming off of a decisive 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Calgary Flames on Thursday and fared even worse on Saturday, as they dropped their third game of their last four by a score of 6-2.
The Canucks entered Saturday having gone winless in their previous three games and hoping to remain within shouting distance of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. They were without top centers Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytl in this game.
Jacob Trouba is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and missed this game. He was replaced by Oliver Kylington, who played his third game as a Duck. Nikita Nesterenko drew back into the fourth line after he was scratched on Thursday in favor of Brett Leason.
Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks and saved just 20 of the 26 shots he faced, but he didn’t stand much of a chance on any of the six goals he let in, as the shots he faced were consistently screened, tipped, or the result of a lapse in coverage.
In the Vancouver crease stood Thatcher Demko, who saved 30 of 32 shots in this game.
Here are my notes:
Pavel Mintyukov-Mintyukov was easily the most positively impactful Ducks blueliner in this game. He was the only defenseman killing rush attacks in the neutral zone with clever tactics to bait breakout passes to seemingly open outlets before he closed in and caused a turnover.
He was breaking up pass attempts with clever stick checks and was poised yet aggressive with the puck on his stick, looking to create much-needed offense from the offensive blueline and the rush.
Trevor Zegras-Zegras had a tough outing in Calgary, seemingly outmatched by their speed and willingness to crowd the Anaheim crease. However, he bounced back nicely in this game and was far more active on both the forecheck and with the puck on his stick.
He displayed a willingness to curl and support his defensemen when the Ducks were regrouping to build speed from his end and into the neutral zone so that he could attack downhill through the middle of the ice, where he’s the most dangerous.
Rush Defense-Rush defense was a significant issue for the Ducks in the 2023-24 season where forwards would do well to backcheck, but there was a lack of communication and failure to pick up opposing trailers entering the zone. That issue popped up again on Vancouver’s first goal of the game, the one that ignited their stretch of five goals in 4:30.
Special Teams-The Ducks now have the worst power play in the NHL, converting at a 12.4% clip. They could stand to take aspects of what made the Canucks successful on both their man-advantages in this game. Chief among them was movement. Whether it was Quinn Hughes activating to find Conor Garland on the backdoor or Brock Boeser sliding from the goal line to the bumper for a high tip, Vancouver predicated their power play on player movement.
The Ducks power play has been too stagnate for too long. Leo Carlsson, specifically, could stand to activate more to find soft ice away from the puck and render himself more of a consistent scoring threat.
The Ducks will travel back home on Monday to host the Edmonton Oilers, as their remaining schedule is down to six games on the season.
The Vancouver Canucks (35-28-13) wrap up their three-game home stand on Sunday when they face the Vegas Golden Knights (46-22-8). This is the first of two games between these Pacific Division rivals this month, as they are also scheduled to face off on the final day of the regular season. Like every game down the stretch, this is a must-win for Vancouver, as a loss would see their playoff odds drop below 1%.
Sunday's game will not be an easy one, as the Golden
Knights still have plenty to play for. While Vegas has already clinched a post-season berth, they are competing for the top spot in the division and home ice for at least the first two rounds. Overall, it is going to be a tough test for the Canucks, and one they will need to pass if they still have plans of qualifying for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Players to Watch:
Aatu Räty:
Aatu Räty has been making the most of his recent call-up. He continues to be dominant in the faceoff dot and has shown he can be an impactful third-line center at the NHL level. If Räty can win his matchup and keep delivering faceoff wins, it will go a long way in helping Vancouver take down the Golden Knights.
Brett Howden:
One player on Vegas' roster who isn't discussed enough is Brett Howden. The 27-year-old has filled in nicely as part of the top six and, like Räty, is having success in the faceoff dot. With points in five of his last season, Howden could easily find the scoresheet Sunday night.
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Two years ago, Anton Lundmark was playing in a semi-professional
regional league in the third tier of Swedish hockey. This season, at
age 23, he made his SHL debut with Timrå IK, where he scored five
goals, had four assists and zero (!) penalty minutes in 53
regular-season and playoff games.
And yet, somehow,
the Florida Panthers
were impressed with what they saw and signed the 6-foot-4, 192-pound
winger to a one-year entry-level contract, which will take effect
next season. The news left many scratching their heads and asking,
“Who?”
“I spoke to him
(on the day of the announcement), and you could say that he was
shocked himself,” said Timrå GM
Kimmo Kapanen. “He didn’t really understand what had
happened.”
However, Kapanen
seemed less surprised and was quick to praise Lundmark.
“He has worked
incredibly hard and has earned this opportunity,” Kapanen added.
“He has all the necessary
tools.”
The Panthers are
no-doubt impressed by Lundmark’s work ethic and possibly see him
eventually using his size to carve out a role as a fourth-line
winger. Zero penalty minutes in 53 games for a player in that role is
a bit surprising, though.
Dvorsky was sent back down to the Thunderbirds on April 3 but is now heading right back to the Blues' roster. The 19-year-old forward will look to impress during his latest opportunity with the NHL squad from here.
Dvorsky made his NHL debut for the Blues on March 23 against the Nashville Predators. During the contest, the young forward had 10:40 time on ice.
Down at the AHL level this season with the Thunderbirds, Dvorsky has been very impactful. In 59 games, he has 20 goals, 24 assists, and 44 points. He was also named to the AHL All-Star Classic due to his strong play.
Dvorsky will now aim to take advantage of receiving another shot on the Blues' roster from here. The 2023 tenth-overall pick is one of the club's most promising prospects and has the potential to blossom into a top-six forward at the NHL level later down the road. Thus, all eyes will be on him during this latest chance on the Blues' roster.
By contrast, Gretzky scored just 67 goals in 265 games from his 35th birthday on Jan. 26, 1996 through his retirement in April of 1999, at age 38. Once he passed Gordie Howe with No. 802 in 1994, there was a significant drop-off in his production.
On Friday, Ovechkin also became the second-oldest player in NHL history to score 40 goals in a season. Gordie Howe did it as a 40-year-old in 1968-69. The way Ovi’s going, he could take a real run at tying that record next year if the spirit moves him.
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 5, 2025
But this season, Ovechkin’s not the only NHL greybeard who’s doing great things. Here are four others who also seem to be drinking from the Fountain of Youth, listed in order of age.
Marc-Andre Fleury - Age 40
The Minnesota Wild stopper has let it be known that he’s bowing out at the end of this season. And while his workload has been reduced, the first-overall pick from 2003 is still delivering quality minutes during his farewell tour.
In 23 appearances during his age-40 year, Fleury is 12-9-1 with a 2.78 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. The next stop for the three-time Cup champ: the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Brent Burns – Age 40
When Burns signed an eight-year contract extension at an $8 million cap hit in the fall of 2016, it was widely assumed that the San Jose Sharks were buying high.
Burns won his Norris Trophy at the end of that season before his new deal kicked in. And by the end of Year 5, the rebuilding Sharks were happy to retain a third of the money in order to offload the contract to Carolina.
Burns turned 40 in March. He may not be hitting 70 points anymore, but he’s still averaging well over 20 minutes a game on one of the league’s best puck-possession teams.
Whatever mysterious potions the bearded one might be carting around in his famous backpack, Burns’s regime is working for him. He recently moved into fourth-place all-time on the NHL’s consecutive-games-played list, at 919.
Only one other defenseman is ahead of him, Keith Yandle (989). Burns could pass him if he plays just one more year.
Streak aside, it won’t be surprising if Burns has multiple suitors if he decides to test the waters as a UFA this summer.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Age 38
Vlasic signed his big extension in San Jose just a few months after his old partner, Burns, on July 1, 2017 — at a slightly lower cap hit of $7 million a season. As more of a stay-at-home type, he’s had some injury challenges over the years. But this season, Vlasic passed Mark Giordano to become the NHL player with the most blocked shots since tracking began in 2005-06.
That achievement speaks volumes about the physical sacrifices that Vlasic has made throughout his career.
He has one year remaining on his deal and will most likely want to play it out. It will at least provide one year of insurance for his blocks record, as John Carlson and Alex Pietrangelo are still active and sit third and fourth in the all-time blocked-shot rankings.
Sidney Crosby – Age 37
Sid the Kid is the 13th-oldest skater in the NHL this season. But like Ovechkin, his motor simply isn’t slowing down.
His 1,682 career points are 64 more than second-place Ovechkin among active players. And with his hat trick in Pittsburgh’s win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday, Crosby just hit the 30-goal mark for the fourth-straight year and the 13th time in his career.
Last week, Crosby set a record by logging his 20th point-per-game season — which spans his entire career.
A big ovation from @penguins fans for Sidney Crosby after he became the first player to record 20 point-per-game seasons on Thursday! 👏 pic.twitter.com/LZGJKBSENE
If he gets a point against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, he’ll extend his current point streak to 13 games. That would be a record for a player who’s 37 or older.
Crosby’s workload isn’t changing, either. His average ice time this season is 20:24, just 16 seconds below his career average of 20:40.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned forward Joona Koppanen to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it was announced Saturday.
Koppanen, a product of Tampere, Finland, has split time this season between the NHL and the AHL, collecting one goal in six games with Pittsburgh while putting up seven goals and 22 points in 55 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Koppanen has appeared in 15 career NHL games with the Penguins and the Bruins. Across that time, he has scored one goal and added an assist for two points.
With Koppanen being assigned to the AHL once again, he will play a big role for the Penguins as they look to go on a deep playoff run. Still just 27, Koppanen's play could earn him some interest if he hits free agency.
LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights grabbed a much-needed win Saturday, snapping a two-game skid with a 3-2 overtime win in Calgary over the Wild Card hopeful Flames.
Reilly Smith scored twice, including the overtime winner at the 4:31 mark to lift the Knights to a win, and extend their lead in the Pacific Division to three points over the hard-charging Los Angeles Kings.
Akira Schmid, who is now active while regular backup Ilya Samsonov is nursing an injury, made 21 saves for the victory in his first start of the season.
Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring for Vegas with a first-period strike. It was his team-leading 33rd of the season.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
POTENTIAL REMATCH? Despite the loss, Calgary moved within four points of idle Minnesota for the second Wild-Card spot in the Western Conference. The Flames are still very relevant in the playoff race, as they've got a game in hand on Minnesota and a meeting with the Wild at the Saddledome this coming Friday. With Calgary keeping their playoff flame burning, it remains one of Vegas' potential first-round foes.
PACIFIC DIVISION POWER: Though the Golden Knights suffered losses to the Oilers and Kings recently, they boast a 16-4-1 record against the entire Pacific Division. The intradivision success could come into play if either the Knights miraculously end up facing the Flames in the first round, or were to drop out of first place and meet either the Oilers or Kings in the opening round.
PK TURNAROUND: After allowing power-play goals in each of the last two games - both losses - the Golden Knights were a perfect 4 for 4 with their penalty kill in Calgary. It was a much-needed boost to a penalty kill that came into the game ranked 26th overall on the PK, including a dismal 30th on the road. With the season winding down, and the power play a heavy emphasis in the postseason, Vegas' penalty kill will be essential for a Stanley Cup run.
Shortly after Wayne Gretzky became the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer in 1994, his father mentioned how someone, someday, would break his record.
“I looked at my dad,” Gretzky recently recalled, “and said, ‘Well can I enjoy this for just a couple days?'”
Gretzky enjoyed holding the record for more than 30 years – and then that someone appeared, and that someday arrived.
It was Alex Ovechkin on April 6, 2025.
The date will forever be etched in history as the day the Washington Capitals star scored his 895th career goal to break Gretzky’s record and become the top goal scorer in league history.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin netted the record-breaking goal Sunday during the Capitals’ game against theNew York Islanders at UBS Arena on Long Island. He scored on the power play with 12:34 remaining in the second period, sending the thousands of Capitals fans who were in attendance into a raucous celebration.
The Capitals left the bench to join the celebration with Ovechkin, and the game was paused for a ceremony that marked the completion of what has been dubbed “The GR8 Chase.”
Ovechkin reached 895 goals in his 1,487th game — the same number of games Gretzky played in his NHL 20-year career.
Gretzky was in attendance, as was NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Ovechkin’s family, for the record-breaking goal.
Records are meant to be broken, but greatness is rarely expected to be matched. And yet, “The Great One” is now second greatest on the league’s most hallowed statistical list.
Ovechkin’s climb to the top required longevity, consistency and availability – all of which he has provided since being selected first overall in the 2004 draft.
In his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2005, he scored the first two goals of what would be a 52-goal season, the third-most ever scored by an NHL rookie.
Ovechkin, during his third season, scored a career best 65 goals. He has recorded nine 50-plus goal seasons, matching the record shared by Gretzky and Islanders legend Mike Bossy. He has scored 40 or more goals in a season 14 times, which topped Gretzky’s record of 12.
Alex Ovechkin milestone goals
First — Oct. 5, 2005
100th— Oct. 12, 2007
200th — Feb. 5, 2009
300th — April 5, 2011
400th — Dec. 20, 2013
500th — Jan. 10, 2016
600th — March 12, 2018
700th — Feb. 22, 2020
800th — Dec. 13, 2022
894th — April 4, 2025
895th — April 6, 2025
Ovechkin won nine Rocket Richard Trophies for most goals scored in a season, three Hart Trophies as most valuable player, and the 2017 Stanley Cup, which was the first in Capitals franchise history.
With each goal along the way, he inched closer to greatness.
Gretzky had held the goals record since 1994 when he tallied his 802nd goal on March 23, 1994 to pass Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe. Gretzky, who played primarily for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, scored his 894th and final goal came on March 29, 1999, as a member of the New York Rangers. He retired three weeks later at the age of 38, holding 61 NHL records at the time, including most career assists (1,963) and points (2,857), both of which still comfortably stand.
His goals record outlasted many Hall of Famers who took aim but fell short — with Jaromir Jagr scoring 766 goals before retiring in 2018 and Brett Hull netting 741 goals before closing his 19-year career in 2006.
Ovechkin in December 2022 became just the third player in league history to reach 800 career goals, joining Gretzky and Howe. He began his 20th NHL season in October needing 42 goals to top a record once believed to be unbreakable. He missed 16 games earlier this season with a fractured left fibula, pushing the record pursuit closer to the end of the season.
Ovechkin entered Sunday having scored in four consecutive games. He scored twice on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks, including career goal No. 894 to tie Gretzky’s record total.
He broke it with just five games remaining for the Capitals in the regular season.
Ovechkin will now look to become the first NHL player to score 900 career goals, a club he will remain the sole member of for quite some time, if not permanently.
Alex Ovechkin Scores 895 To Become NHL's All-Time Leading Goal ScorerWashington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in NHL history.
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