Fans have watched all season as Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has chased Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. There have been ups and downs throughout the campaign for Ovechkin. But none of that matters now. On Sunday afternoon against the New York Islanders, Ovechkin scored the 895th goal of his illustrious career, surpassing Gretzky for the all-time NHL lead.

Ovechkin is one of the NHL's premier snipers, and he reached this status as soon as he debuted. The Russian winger scored 52 goals and 106 points during his rookie season back in 2005-06. This began a run of five straight seasons in which the Capitals star scored 45+ goals in a season. Four of these campaigns resulted in him scoring 50+ times.

Scoring slowed for Alex Ovechkin as the 2010s began. He was still an impressive scorer, recording three straight 30+ goal campaigns from 2010 to 2013. However, it was a step down from what fans grew accustomed to.

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Those fans did not need to wait too long for the Capitals star to find his groove again, though. He began another 50+ goal streak from 2013 to 2016. During this time, Washington began having some playoff success. However, they failed to produce a Stanley Cup title.

Thankfully, a Stanley Cup wasn't too far behind. Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018. They defeated the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Final that season. To this date, this is the only Stanley Cup in Ovechkin's career.

Wayne Gretzky scored 894 goals in 1,487 career games, which is the same amount of games Ovechkin has now played. “The Great One” dominated the NHL for the better part of 20 seasons. He won four Stanley Cups, all with the Edmonton Oilers. He retired with a litany of records to his name. However, his 894 goals seemed to be an untouchable record for the longest time.

This record is untouchable no more. Alex Ovechkin has officially become the greatest goal-scorer in league history. One should never say never, especially on a night when an imposing record fell. However, it will be extremely difficult for any player to score more than Ovechkin has in his no-doubt first ballot Hall of Fame career.