Alex Ovechkin is at a point in his career where whenever he scores a goal or tallies a point, he is guaranteed to accomplish a bit of history and move up in the NHL’s record books.

Tuesday against Bruce Boudreau’s Vancouver Canucks, Ovechkin went big and eclipsed Wayne Gretzky. Ovi passed Gretz in career road tallies, becoming the NHL’s Road Goals King. The Capitals gave Ovechkin a standing ovation inside the locker room after the game.

“It’s always nice when you beat The Great One,” Ovechkin said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of milestone it is. It’s history.”

Gretzky scored 402 goals in away barns, accounting for 45 percent of his 894 career tallies. Meanwhile, after scoring road goals numbers 402 and 403 in the ‘Couv, Ovi has collected 50.3 percent of his 793 career lamplighters away from Capital One Arena.

Scoring on the road should be more difficult. Home teams get the last change, meaning a superstar like Ovechkin will consistently face an opposing team’s toughest defenders and line matchups. Yet, it’s been easier for Ovi to score on the road, not harder.

During a first intermission interview with NBC Sports Washington’s Al Koken, Ovechkin was asked what gives and he replied that he was unsure why things have worked out this way. He guessed that playing in front of a lot of fans — especially north of the border — and the attention it brings gives him extra motivation.

“It seems like we always have fun on the road,” Ovi added inside the locker room. “Spend more time together. I don’t know. I think everybody enjoy it.”

On his first goal, Ovi forced a turnover from star defenseman Quinn Hughes beside the net. He then put the puck by goaltender Spencer Martin short side. That was the goal that tied Gretzky.

“I think he tried to make a pass,” Ovechkin said of Hughes. “How I said always, a goal is a goal and I’ll take it.”

Hughes thought the play was partially bad luck.

“I turned it over and he can score in an instant,” Hughes said to The Province’s Ben Kuzma. “But the puck just hit his foot and popped out to him.”

Ovi got the record nine minutes later on a one-timer from the left circle. But this time it came on a five-on-five rush and not on a power play. Anthony Mantha skated the puck up the ice and got it to Dylan Strome, who then put the biscuit right into the captain’s wheelhouse. The shot leaked through Martin.

“I take a lot of responsibility for this loss because the goalie has a unique way to affect the game,” Martin said. “I felt like early in the game I didn’t do enough to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Martin said he could have been “more alert” on Ovi’s first tally while the second he believed was “pretty stoppable.”

“Unfortunately, he overpowered the seal I had there and it got through,” Martin said.

Former Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau, who has watched Ovechkin score 13 goals in 16 career games against his teams, was not in the mood to blame his goaltender.

“It could have been 6-1 after the first period, quite frankly, with the amount of chances they had,” Boudreau said. “Ovi is going to score and on his second goal. You can say [Martin] maybe should have had it, but I’ve seen him score 100 goals like that.

“He’s got that shot that finds its way in. Spencer has been great for us. He was probably a little bit like the rest of the players today. They weren’t ready to play and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Before the game, Boudreau believed it was Ovechkin’s competitive spirit that has pushed him to these unbelievable records.

“He loves the fans and comes to play every night,” Boudreau said. “You could play him on the moon and he would give it his best and he’d do well.”

After the loss, Bruce elaborated on that point.

“Listen, he’s going to make hockey history whether anybody’s watching him,” he said. “It didn’t do anything for me. I was just worried about the win.”

Screenshot: @Capitals/Twitter