Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin notches 895th career goal, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL scoring record

The GIST: The GR8 Chase is over — Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal in yesterday’s 4–1 loss to the NY Islanders, making him the top goal scorer in NHL history. Here’s a look at the historic hockey moment, by the numbers.

31: The legendary (though recently polarizing) Wayne Gretzky held the league’s all-time scoring record for 31 years after retiring with 894 career goals. Someone breaking his mark was considered impossible…until Ovi (who notably stirs his own conflicting feelings) started closing in.

1,487: It took Ovi 1,487 games to break Gretzky’s record, which is the exact number of NHL games “The Great One” played in his career. Spooky.

65: Of Ovi’s 895 career goals, 65 were empty-netters. While some think this stat lessens Ovechkin’s claim to greatness, Gretzky notched 56 empty-netters en route to his long-standing record. It’s just part of the game.

Two hours, 10 minutes and 37 seconds: That’s how long it’ll take you to watch all 895 of Ovechkin’s NHL goals, generously compiled by the Caps, the only team the Great Eight has ever played for.

39: Ovi’s still playing at an extremely productive clip at age 39. With five regular-season games remaining, he’s already scored 42 goals this season alone, only 23 less than his all-time season high of 65, which he accomplished in his prime 17 years ago. And with the postseason looming, he’s just getting started.