Alex Ovechkin Breaking Wayne Gretzky's Record Brings Joy To Hockey And Beyond Sports

Alex Ovechkin could not contain his happiness moments after scoring his 895th goal to break Wayne Gretzky's NHL record and etch his name into the history books.

"We did it!" he told teammates in an electric visiting arena with over 17,000 fans locked in on his every move. "It's history! Yeah!"

Ovechkin celebrated No. 895 with the same joy he oozed after so many of his first 894, bellyflopping onto the ice like he did into fountains in Washington when he and the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018. That was the high-water mark for the franchise earning its first championship, but this stuck out in a different way.

The Cup gets handed out once a year. Ovechkin broke a record that stood for more than three decades, with the chance for his reign to last even longer. At a time of the season in a team-centric sport that is usually reserved only for playoff races, Ovechkin's "GR8 Chase" captivated the hockey community and brought joy not only to the sport but the rest of the world eager to witness something special.

"It's a testament to Ovi," said center Dylan Strome, who along with Tom Wilson had the assists on Ovechkin's record-breaker Sunday in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders. "Everyone wants to see him succeed because he's such a happy guy. It doesn't matter if he scores a goal or someone else scores a goal: He's just as happy. And I think that's a credit to him and his character, and you could see why other people are so happy for him because of the way he treats other people."