Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record, and the Washington Capitals clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference the following game.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Alex Ovechkin for setting an “outstanding record” as the NHL’s all time top goal-scorer.

Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record became the talk of the league a time of the season usually reserved only for playoff races.

Wayne Gretzky's NHL goal-scoring record is no longer considered unbreakable — because Alex Ovechkin just broke it.

Alex Ovechkin with his 895th career goal has broken Wayne Gretzky's NHL record that most thought was untouchable.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is now the leading goal-scorer in NHL history.

Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history by scoring the 895th of his career.

Sidney Crosby took part in another dueling hat tricks game with a Russian opponent 16 years after his memorable one in the playoffs against Alex Ovechkin.

Wayne Gretzky made his first in-person appearance during Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of the NHL career goals record in time to watch him tie it with No. 894.

Alex Ovechkin has matched Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record by getting to 894.

Alex Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record by scoring the 894th of his career.

Wayne Gretzky witnessed Alex Ovechkin scoring his 893rd goal to move one back of tying his NHL record, as the Canadian great made his first in-person appearance during this chase.

Alex Ovechkin moved three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record after scoring the 892nd of his career in the Washington Capitals’ game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

Alex Ovechkin moved four goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record after scoring the 891st of his career in the Washington Capitals game against the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday night.

Alex Ovechkin is now five goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record after scoring the 890th of his career in the Washington Capitals’ game Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Alex Ovechkin initiated a memorable moment on the ice in Minnesota even though he went scoreless for Washington in a 4-2 loss.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals finished his record-breaking season with 897 goals.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has tied the NHL career goals record of 894 held by Wayne Gretzky.

The Washington Capitals became the first NHL team this season to clinch a playoff spot, doing so after playing 69 games.

Alex Ovechkin has scored his 888th career goal to move seven away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career record.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 887th career goal Saturday to move within eight of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 886th career goal into an empty net to move nine back of breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 885th career goal midway through the third period of the Washington Capitals’ game against New York Rangers on Wednesday night, moving nine away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Alex Ovechkin scored the 884th goal of his NHL career to move 10 away from tying Wayne Gretzky's record.

Alex Ovechkin has reached 30 goals in a season for the 19th time in his 20-year NHL career.

Alex Ovechkin had so many chance to score in the Washington Capitals’ rout of the Edmonton Oilers that he joked, “I’ll take three.”.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 880th, 881st and 882nd career goals to record a hat trick and move 13 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record and give the Washington Capitals a 7-3 victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, moving back atop the league standings.

The second half of the NHL season begins Saturday with 14 games coming out of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 878th career goal into an empty net with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to move closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record, and the Washington Capitals defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday night.

A midseason showdown between the top two teams in the NHL lived up to that billing as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime.

Alex Ovechkin scored the 877th goal of his career to move 18 away from breaking the NHL record, but the Washington Capitals lost 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets in a showdown of the top two teams in the NHL that lived up to that billing.

Alex Ovechkin moved within 20 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record with an empty-netter, helping the Washington Capitals beat the Seattle Kraken 3-0 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.

Alex Ovechkin moved another step closer to breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record by scoring on Marc-Andre Fleury again.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is chasing the NHL career goals record of 894 held by Wayne Gretzky.

Alex Ovechkin could return to the Washington Capitals lineup when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first game back from the NHL’s Christmas break.

Alex Ovechkin skated by himself before Washington Capitals practice as he works to return from a broken leg.

Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks.

The Washington Capitals put Alex Ovechkin on injured reserve and recalled fellow Russian winger Ivan Miroshnichenko from the minors.

Alex Ovechkin is considered week-to-week after injuring his lower left leg in the Washington Capitals' most recent game at Utah.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 130th career game-winning goal to keep his hot streak going, the Washington Capitals winning and the Nashville Predators losing.

Alex Ovechkin is off to a hot start, and so are the Washington Capitals.

Alex Ovechkin is now on track to break Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record this season.

Alex Ovechkin has just one shot on goal through two games of the Washington Capitals’ first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers, which they trail 2-0.

T.

While the eight playoff teams in the NHL's Western Conference are all but settled, the race is on in the East, with three teams vying for two spots.

Alex Ovechkin has scored a goal in five consecutive games to make it his longest streak in nearly three years.

Ryan Lomberg scored the game-winning goal with 6:52 to go, Matthew Tkachuk had three points and the Florida Panthers defeated the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Thursday night.

Some early trends are showing in the NHL.

Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan says it's unlikely Nicklas Backstrom plays again this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals had their lengthy playoff streaks end last season.

Matthew Tkachuk scored the tiebreaking goal with one minute left in regulation and had two assists as the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Saturday night for their sixth straight win.

The Washington Capitals say Alex Ovechkin will be away from the team to attend to a family matter and the health of a loved one.

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were among the first round of All-Star selections revealed by the NHL.

Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick to lead the Washington Capitals to a 9-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens.

Alex Ovechkin has tied Gordie Howe for second on the NHL career goals list.

Alex Ovechkin is one of the happiest athletes around about Lionel Messi winning the World Cup with Argentina.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has become the third NHL player to score 800 career goals.

Alex Ovechkin scored in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 comeback victory against the Philadelphia Flyers and snap their four-game losing streak.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 787th career goal to break Gordie Howe’s record for scoring with one team, but the Arizona Coyotes scored three times in the third period to rally for a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals.

Alex Ovechkin tied Gordie Howe for the most goals scored for one NHL team and Andrew Copp had a go-ahead goal with 3:50 left, helping the Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals 3-1.

Carter Verhaeghe scored the overtime winner to send the Panthers to the second round by beating the Washington Capitals 4-3 in Game 6.

Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves as the Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 6-1 in Game 3 to take a lead in their first-round playoff series.

On Episode 52 of the Chirping the Cats podcast, host David Dwork welcomes longtime Washington Capitals and NHL reporter Tarik El-Bashir.

The Washington Capitals are listing Alex Ovechkin as day to day with an upper-body injury.

Russia has been removed as host of the 2023 world championship in men’s ice hockey.

Alex Ovechkin was injured in the third period of the Washington Capitals' 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin enjoyed the biggest moment of his career inside T-Mobile Arena in 2018, when he skated the Stanley Cup around the rink after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in the Final.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 767th goal to pass Jaromir Jagr for third on the NHL career list in the Washington Capitals’ 4-3 shootout victory against the New York Islanders.

Most Russian players in the National Hockey League have remained silent about their country's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev has written “No War Please” on a TV camera moments after advancing to the final at the Dubai Championships.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin will miss the NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Saturday after entering the league’s COVID-19 protocols Wednesday.

Tom Wilson scored early, Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal late, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves to lead the Washington Capitals to a 2-0 victory over the New York Islanders.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season and the 750th of his NHL career to help the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 and snap a two-game skid.

It was just the third regulation loss of the season for the Panthers.

Garnet Hathaway scored his third goal in two games, Alex Ovechkin added two assists and the Washington Capitals spoiled Sidney Crosby’s return, routing the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1.

Alex Ovechkin got his 742nd career goal, Conor Sheary scored with 1:22 left and the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 741st career goal to tie Brett Hull for fourth on the NHL’s all-time list and help the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves, Anthony Cirelli had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Washington 3-2 to end the Capitals’ eight-game season-opening point streak.

While the fisticuffs never materialized, the Washington Capitals made a season-opening 5-1 victory against the division-rival New York Rangers memorable for Alex Ovechkin’s 731st and 732nd goals and Hendrix Lapierre’s first.

Alex Ovechkin left Washington's preseason finale against Philadelphia because of a lower-body injury.

Alex Ovechkin has re-signed with the Washington Capitals for $47.5 million over five years.

Alex Ovechkin says he is confident he will sign an extension and play for the Washington Capitals again next season.

Michael Raffl scored from a tight angle with 1.8 seconds remaining and the Washington Capitals beat the short-handed Boston Bruins 2-1 in the teams’ regular season finale.

Conor Sheary scored the overtime winner and the short-handed Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 to guarantee they’ll open the playoffs at home.

Daniel Sprong scored twice in injured Alex Ovechkin's place on Washington’s top line , Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves and the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 6-3.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice to move within one goal of Marcel Dionne for fifth place on the NHL’s career goals list as the Washington Capitals downed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3.

Anthony Mantha had a two points in his Washington debut, Alex Ovechkin scored the 728th goal of his NHL career and the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1.

The NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals have announced the dates this month when they will start to allow fans at home games at 10% of their capacity.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Capitals players and coach Peter Laviolette sounded as if they'd lost after holding on to beat the New York Rangers 5-4 Sunday. Washington has won 10 of 11 games to move two points up on the second-place New York Islanders and looks primed for another deep playoff run. “If there’s a trend, we want to address it,” said Wilson, who has five points in four games since returning from a seven-game suspension. And their best players are producing: Ovechkin has 11 goals in 11 games and leads the team with 18; Kuznetsov has 12 points in 10 games and Jakub Vrana picked up his first point in five games. Keith Kinkaid made 17 saves for the Rangers, who have lost back-to-back one-goal games after a three-game winning streak.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves and the Washington Capitals rode their best players to a 4-0 victory Friday night and two-game sweep of the New Jersey Devils. Ovechkin has scored 10 times in his past 10 games and has a team-best 17 goals this season. “He’s probably the hottest guy in the league now, but it seems like every shot he takes is dangerous. Thank you, team.”With Ovechkin rolling, the Capitals have won nine of their past 10 games and are back atop the East Division.

Ovechkin scored two rebound goals in the final seven minutes to give the Washington Capitals their seventh consecutive victory by coming back to beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Friday night. He has scored in five in a row and has seven goals in the past seven games. “We liked he way we played for the most part," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. LINDGREN DELIVERSWhile Washington players jawed at Lindgren plenty after his open-ice hit on Ovechkin midway through the second period, Ovechkin himself had no issues with it. “It was a great hit," Ovechkin said.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) checks Boston Bruins right wing Chris Wagner (14) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)NEW YORK – Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was fined $5,000 by the NHL on Thursday for spearing Boston Bruins rookie Trent Frederic, an amount that is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. Ovechkin was given a minor penalty for slashing and Frederic one for cross-checking on the play. Bruins teammates credited Frederic for helping spark a comeback victory in that game. The respect I give him is just by playing him hard.”AdThe Capitals had the day off Thursday.

Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie (77) celebrates his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – T.J. Oshie scored twice to end a lengthy drought, Alex Ovechkin had a late power-play goal and the Washington Capitals came back from down two to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Sunday. Anderson and New Jersey's Aaron Dell each hadn't started an NHL game in more than 11 months. The Capitals and Devils each played at home Saturday afternoon, so this adjustment was possible. Samsonov got two minor league rehab starts but hasn't played an NHL game since Jan. 17.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Scott Laughton scored his first career hat trick, Sean Couturier had two goals in his first game back following a rib injury and the Philadelphia Flyers pulled away for a 7-4 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. “It’s a big win after losing those two games the way we did to Boston,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. Laughton completed his hat trick to give the Flyers insurance on another rebound after Anderson’s pad save of Farabee, and Couturier added a late empty netter. MILESTONESFlyers: Van Riemsdyk contributed his 100th assist across two stints with the Flyers on Laughton's second goal. AdUP NEXTThe Capitals and Flyers meet again in Washington on Tuesday night.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, celebrates his game-winning goal in overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, in Washington. In his first game since Jan. 19, Ovechkin scored in overtime to help the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 Saturday night in a showdown between the top teams in the NHL’s East Division. After Ovechkin missed the previous four games because of COVID-19 protocols, the high-scoring forward showed his career-long flair for the dramatic by beating Tuukka Rask with a perfect shot 28 seconds into overtime. “It was fun,” said Ovechkin, who also had an assist while being eased back in with 14 minutes of ice time. The Capitals beat the Bruins for the 17th time in 19 regular-season games dating to 2015.

For Peter Laviolette, his Washington Capitals will keep playing for the next week without four prominent players who broke the rules. There's no indication the Capitals are being shut down, though they will have to play the next four games without captain Alex Ovechkin, No. The NHL defers to local authorities, and the minimum four games for the Capitals players relates to the District of Columbia's quarantine regulations. The Hurricanes have so far had three games postponed because of their outbreak and won't play for at least a week. I think that’s really what we’re going to find out.”___AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard and Stephen Hawkins contributed.

Five players from the Carolina Hurricanes also are on the list and that team’s games were called off by the league through “at least” Saturday. The postponements were announced Wednesday, a day before the Hurricanes were set to host the Florida Panthers in their home opener. This is the first instance this season of Capitals players appearing on the NHL’s COVID-19 list, which could include those who test positive, have a potential exposure or face quarantine requirements. The league didn’t specify which team prompted that night’s postponement, although four Hurricanes players — Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen — were added to the daily COVID-19 list later Tuesday afternoon. Their past five games have been postponed during a stretch in which six Wizards players tested positive for the illness caused by the coronavirus and three others were sidelined after contact tracing determined they might have been exposed.

DeSmith figured Ovechkin would try to fire one past him rather than deke his way to the net. DeSmith stayed upright as Ovechkin closed in and felt the familiar smack of rubber hitting him and not the net. “I thought our guys played hard in the second and third against a really good team,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. While Sullivan remains confident Jarry will be fine, he turned to DeSmith to help get Pittsburgh going. Washington went 1 for 4 on the power play, a tap-in goal by Backstrom in the second that gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead.

Zdeno Chara is no longer in Boston after the Bruins captain signed with Washington. And the Sabres made an even bigger splash in free agency by landing 2018 NHL MVP Taylor Hall in October. Hall, for example, signed a one-year, $8 million deal with Buffalo by realizing the free-agent market was going to be tight. Oilers general manager Ken Holland chalked it up to the new economic realities facing the NHL. “It’s salary-cap related, which is related to the pandemic, which has given us a hard, flat cap for the foreseeable future,” Holland said.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Boston's David Pastrnak share the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy the league announced Thursday, May 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)Since the NHL is planning to go straight to the playoffs, it's handing out a handful of trophies for the regular season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Not long after unveiling a 24-team right to the playoffs format, the league on Thursday announced the winners of its regular-season awards. Although Ovechkin was stopped short of a ninth 50-goal season, his ninth goal-scoring title extends his NHL record. The benefit and the curse of a bye, I suppose.___For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports