ELMONT, N.Y. -- Alex Ovechkin is the NHL's new goal-scoring king.
The Washington Capitals left wing scored his 895th goal to surpass Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday.
Ovechkin scored his record-breaking goal at 7:26 of the second period on the power play. He took a pass from Tom Wilson and ripped a wrist shot from the left face-off circle past Ilya Sorokin for his 895th goal to cut New York's lead to 2-1.
The 39-year-old tied Gretzky by scoring his 894th goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
After scoring the goal, Ovechkin slid on his belly toward center ice, where he was mobbed by his teammates.
The game was stopped for about 10 minutes for a ceremony at center ice that included Ovechkin's wife, Nastya, and two sons, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, Gretzky and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
"Wayne, you'll always be the 'Great One' and you had a record that nobody ever thought would be broken," Bettman said. "But Alex, you did it. You've been amazing."
Gretzky, who was in Washington on Friday when Ovechkin tied his record, said he's not sure this record will ever be topped.
"I wish the Islanders and the New York fans all the best, but we're here today to celebrate this guy here, No. 8," Gretzky said. "I can tell you firsthand, I know how hard it is to get 894. 895 is pretty special. My congratulations to not only Alex, his mom and dad, his family, his wife and kids. When I broke the record, my two kids were about the age of his boys, so it's kind of reminiscent for me and I'm so happy that two of my boys are here tonight. But there's nothing better than the National Hockey League. They say records are made to be broken, but I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that. It's the greatest game in the world. I want to congratulate every organization, the Commissioner and the League.
"… Alex, I said I'd be the first guy to shake your hand when you broke the record (shake hands and hugged) and one last thing before Alex speaks, one of the great things about my setting the record, Colleen Howe bought my wife a beautiful gift and wonderful note and we know how the legacy of hockey passes down, but also it does it with the families and the wives, so my wife has something very beautiful for his lovely wife that we want to pass on. But Mr. Leonsis, congratulations, and when I set the record, they bought me a Rolls-Royce, so you've got your work cut out."
The goal capped what has been an incredible run by Ovechkin to get the record; scoring six times during a five-game goal streak.
"Every moment since the first day in training camp, we're chasing a great moment in hockey," Ovechkin said Friday "I didn't put pressure on myself a lot, and I was enjoying this moment and I'm still enjoying it. It's such a great moment for hockey."
Gretzky was in attendance to watch Ovechkin break a record many used to think would never be touched. The 64-year-old had held the mark since scoring his 802nd goal to surpass the previous record of 801 held by Gordie Howe while playing for the Los Angeles Kings against the Vancouver Canucks at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles on March 23, 1994.
"My dad told me that same night, 'Be as proud of the guy that breaks your record,'" Gretzky said Friday.
Before then, Howe held the NHL goal record since scoring his 545th on Nov. 10, 1963, to overtake Maurice Richard, who scored 544 goals.
Ovechkin has 42 goals in 61 games this season. He scored his 895th goal in his 1,487th NHL regular-season game, all with Washington, which selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft.
"Two years ago when people said to me, 'Do you think Alex is going to break the record?' I said, 'It's not a matter of it, it's a matter of when,'" Gretzky said. "And when he does, I'm going to be there. And so, I'm here."
Gretzky scored 894 goals in 1,487 NHL regular-season games with the Edmonton Oilers, Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers before retiring in 1999. He scored his 894th and final goal playing for the Rangers against the Islanders on March 29, 1999.
Ovechkin, who is in his 20th season in the League, scored his first two goals in his NHL debut against Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Pascal Leclaire on Oct. 5, 2005. Leclaire was the first of the NHL-record 183 different goalies Ovechkin has scored against. Ovechkin had not scored against Sorokin before Sunday.
"What a day, huh?" Ovechkin said. "Like I always said, all the time, it's a team sport and without my boys -- the whole organization, the fans, the trainers, coaches -- I would never stand here and obviously I would never pass the 'Great One.' So, fellas, thank you very much. I love you so much. I know Nicklas Backstrom is here, T.J. Oshie, fellas, I love you. We did it, boys. We did it.
"Thank you to Sorokin to let me score 895. I love you, brother. And the last thing, all of you fans, the whole world, Russia, we did it, boys. We did it. It's history. Yeah!
"And the most important thing, to my mom, my family, my beautiful wife, my father-in-law, my beautiful kids, thank you. I love you so much, and without you, without your support I would never stand here. So, I love you guys."
The Moscow, Russia, native also owns the NHL records for power-play goals (325) and overtime goals (27) and, with goal No. 894, broke a tie with Jaromir Jagr for the most game-winning goals (136).
"I'm still a little shaking and still can't believe it," Ovechkin said after tying the record in Washington on Friday. "It's nice that my family is here, my mom, my wife, my kids, father-in-law, lots of friends came from lots of different cities. It's history. It's great for the game. It's great to do it here. It's special."
This is Ovechkin's 14th season scoring at least 40 goals, increasing his NHL-record total. He also owns the NHL record for most 30-goal seasons (19) and is tied with Gretzky and Mike Bossy for most 50-goals seasons (nine).
"Obviously, you never thought you were going to get those kind of numbers or years, but you just want to try to do your best," Ovechkin said.
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