Alex Ovechkin is still several goals away from tying and breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record for the most ever in a career in the NHL, but the Washington Capitals star had a different record by the Great One broken Tuesday night.

With a goal five minutes into the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at home, Alex Ovechkin managed to reach the 40-goal plateau in the 2022-23 NHL season. It's the 13th season that Alex Ovechkin has managed to amass at least 40 goals.

Alex Ovechkin is seemingly on a tear again. He found the back of the net twice last Sunday on the road, albeit in a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. In his first eight games this month of March, Ovechkin collected six goals and five assists. He had two multiple-goal games during that span and could have another before the end of this contest against the Blue Jackets.

Ovechkin is trying to will the Capitals to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with only less than a dozen games remaining in the regular season. The Capitals walked into Tuesday's meeting with Columbus just fifth in the Wild Card race in the Eastern Conference with 73 points — six points out of the second and Wild Card spot.

The Capitals have not missed the postseason since 2014, and with the Caps in danger of seeing that streak get snapped, the team is hoping that Alex Ovechkin is going to keep on delivering offensively.

The Russian superstar has 820 NHL career goals after his first-period score versus Columbus. Gretzky is still ahead of him with 894 NHL goals.