Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will have to wait for at least one more game before trying to tie Gordie Howe for the No. 2 spot on the all-time NHL goals-scored list after failing to find the back of the net in Thursday night's 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators on the road. However, Ovechkin was still able to break an NHL record, as he is now the league's all-time leader in shots on goal.

The Capitals sniper entered the Senators game having taken a total of 6,206 goals in his career — five fewer than legendary defenseman Ray Bourque, who played in four different decades in the NHL. Ovechkin would finish the meeting with the Senators with six shots to tie and then break Bourque's previous record. Only Ovechkin and Bourque have managed to take at least 6,000 shots on goal in NHL history.

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Ovechkin is easily one of the greatest scorers the NHL has ever seen. He is already arguably the best in that department even if he is still over 90 goals away from matching and breaking Wayne Gretzky's league record of 894 goals scored. Speaking of The Great One, Gretzky is eighth on the all-time shots on goal list with 5,088 taken across a career that spanned 1,487 games. Ovechkin, on the other hand, took all 6,211 shots on goal in only 1,309 shots. Unlike Ovechkin, Gretzky was more of a table-setter than a voracious goal-hunter that Ovi is, which is also why even if you removed all of Gretzky's goals, he'd still be leading the NHL all-time in points.

Ovechkin, who had two assists against the Sens, will next get his chance to score his 801st NHL goal Friday night versus the Winnipeg Jets at home.