Alex Ovechkin passed Wayne Gretzky for sole possession of the NHL’s all-time goals record on Sunday. The Capitals captain notched career goal number 895 against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.
Ovechkin is now just the 10th player in league history to claim the title of all-time goals leader and just the third to do so in the last 61 years, per the NHL. He also broke Gretzky’s mark in career contest No. 1,487, the same number of games the “The Great One” finished his playing days at with 894 goals.
Historically, the climb to the NHL’s goal mountain top has taken every conqueror since Maurice “Rocket” Richard longer than their predecessor. Gretzky and now Ovechkin are the exceptions to that trend. This is how the league officially lists each leader’s tenure.
Players who have been all-time NHL goals leader
| Player | Last date as leader | Longest as outright leader |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Hyland | Dec. 21, 1917 | Never led outright |
| Newsy Lalonde | Feb. 22, 1921 | 3 days |
| Joe Malone | Feb, 16, 1923 | Nearly 2 years |
| Cy Denney | Dec. 22, 1933 | 10+ years |
| Howie Morenz | Feb. 15, 1937 | 3+ years |
| Nels Stewart | Nov. 7, 1952 | 15+ years |
| Maurice Richard | Nov. 9, 1963 | Nearly 11 years |
| Gordie Howe | Mar. 22, 1994 | 30+ years |
| Wayne Gretzky | Apr. 3, 2025 | 30+ years |
| Alex Ovechkin | Current leader | Ongoing |
Here’s a timeline on how each of them did so, according to the NHL:
Dec. 19, 1917: Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens and Harry Hyland of the Montreal Wanderers both finished the first-ever day of NHL play with five goals each, sharing the first-ever title of all-time goals leader.
Dec. 21, 1917: Malone took the outright lead with a hat-trick over Hyland’s Wanderers. However, he would jockey with the Ottawa Senators’ Cy Denneny and the Canadiens’ Newsy Lalonde for the distinction of top goal scorer for the next five seasons due to their simultaneous competition.
Jan. 31, 1920: Malone’s seven-goal performance with the Quebec Bulldogs in their 10-6 win over the Canadiens gave him the breathing room he needed to cling to the goal-scoring throne through Feb. 5, 1921, when he became the first NHL player to score 100 times.
Feb. 16-18, 1921: Lalonde would catch up to and surpass Malone to hold the record for just three days. It’s still the shortest tenure any NHL goals leader has had outside of the opening years of the league.
Feb. 23, 1921: Malone re-took his crown from Lalonde and held it for nearly two years before retiring with 143 career goals.
Feb. 17, 1923: Denneny caught up to and passed Malone within two weeks of the latter scoring his final career tally. Denneny’s reign would last over a decade at 247 career goals until the next challenger approached.
Dec. 23, 1933: Howie Morenz, who played for three different franchises during his NHL career, passed Denneny with his 248th career goal against the Detroit Red Wings. However, he would hold the title for less time than Malone – just over three years at 271 career tallies.
Feb. 16, 1937: Nels Stewart, another three-team journeyman, passed Morenz with his 272nd goal against the Canadiens. He finished his career with 324 goals and sat upon the league’s goal-scoring throne for over 15 years, the longest tenure to that point.
Nov. 8, 1952: Long after Stewart had retired, Maurice “Rocket” Richard, the man today’s NHL fans associate with the trophy handed out to the season’s leading goal scorer, stamped his name on the league’s most prestigious benchmark. Richard scored his 325th career goal against the Chicago Blackhawks. His dominance allowed him to be the first player ever to score 400 and 500 goals in their career. Richard finished with 544 total goals in his 18 seasons, all with the Canadiens.
Nov. 10, 1963: Just a little over 11 years after Richard blasted off into the NHL record books, the man who became synonymous with old-time hockey caught up with his old rival. Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, also known as “Mr. Hockey,” scored his 545th career goal against, ironically, Richard’s beloved Canadiens. “I knew I was gonna [pass him],” Howe told CBC at Richard’s funeral in 2000. “I just admired him for his competitiveness.”
March 23, 1994: Arguably the biggest moment in NHL regular-season history at the time, a then-33-year-old Wayne Gretzky surpassed Howe’s previously thought to be unbeatable 801 career goals over 30 years after Howe passed Richard. “The Great One” buried a tic-tac-toe set-up from teammates Luc Robitaille and Marty McSorley past Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kirk McLean. “If someone had to bump me down the ladder, I’m happy that it was him,” Howe wrote of Gretzky’s achievement. “As I’ve always said since then, the way I see it, the record is in good hands.”
April 4, 2025: Gretzky’s 894th goal, the last of his illustrious career, scored on March 29, 1999, held the distinction of the most ever recorded by an NHL player for over 31 years. Ovechkin then shared that title with Gretzky by scoring twice against the Chicago Blackhawks.
April 6, 2025: Ovechkin claimed sole-possession of the NHL goal-scoring record at UBS Arena against the New York Islanders. He scored in vintage fashion, a rip from the left faceoff circle on the Capitals’ power play.
