Long Island—April 6, 2025.
April 6, 2025 is a day that will forever be engraved in the record books for sports, as an impossible feat was accomplished.
With Wayne Gretzky, The Great One, in attendance, Alexander Ovechkin, “Ovi,” cut down the left side of the ice and rocketed one past Ilya Sorokin for goal number 895 — passing Gretzky’s nearly impossible record of 894. Ovechkin previously scored his record-tying goal on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks in his two-goal effort.
As the Blackhawks pulled their goaltender to try and find the equalizer, Washington Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carbery tapped Ovi to ask if he wanted to hit the ice to not just get the hat trick, but make history, and he told him he wanted to do it with a goalie. That’s the type of player Ovechkin is. He scores goals at an unprecedented rate and does not even feel the need to take the easy route out.
Ovechkin, 7:26 into period two, broke the record. Capitals fans, who had flooded UBS Arena, jumping out of their seats at what they had just witnessed, and New York Islanders fans putting their hands on their head and over their mouths, not knowing what to think other than they just witnessed the impossible. Wayne Gretzky, who will still be the undisputed “GOAT” of hockey, mentioned how “They say records are made to be broken, but I’m not sure who is going to get more goals than that.”
Gretzky, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and Ovechkin’s family all came to the ice to celebrate the moment mid-game. A video with athletes such as Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Sidney Crosby, Simone Biles and more was played to congratulate Ovechkin, who has been choked up for many weeks talking about this record and did not want to talk about himself. He couldn’t stop thanking his teammates, his family, the fans and, oh yeah, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, whom he finally got his first goal against. Ovechkin made sure to give his fellow countryman a shoutout in his speech: “Thank you to Sorokin to let me score 895. I love you, brother.” Sorokin responded postgame, laughing and saying “It’s okay, anytime!”
Alex Ovechkin — a simple man who eats Subway and Cheetos on off days, eats a huge dish of chicken parm before games, and will never say no to a cold one — is the greatest goal-scorer that hockey has ever seen. The chase for 900 is on.
