Ovechkin breaking Gretzky's record brings joy to hockey and beyond sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin could not contain his happiness moments after scoring his 895th goal to break Wayne Gretzky's NHL record. 

After firing the puck into the net, Ovechkin turned and did a belly-flop slide down the ice like he had just won a pee-wee hockey game. The gap-toothed grin didn't leave his face for hours.

“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 was the epitome of joyfulness on goal No. 895, just like he's been on so many of his previous 894, replicating jumping into a fountain in Washington when he and the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018. 

“Almost," Ovechkin said.

That title, the franchise's first championship, was the Capitals' high-water mark, 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 reached the rest of the world clearly 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.”

The charismatic Russian superstar has made a career out of scoring like no one else and commemorating the moments like few others. Whether it was jumping into the glass or mimicking that his stick was on fire, Ovechkin has become one of the faces of the game in part because of his child-like love of the game, even in his 20th NHL season. He is a little kid at heart playing a grown-up sport.

It's a love of the game that resonates far beyond the Capitals.

"You just smile every time you see it," coach Spencer Carbery said, echoing Strome about Ovechkin being just as happy to see his teammates score. “It speaks to him, but also who he is as a captain and as a leader, of the happiness and joy that he has to win and to see others have success and others to score goals, as well.”

No team or goaltender wanted to be the one to give up No. 895, but the Islanders — and netminder Ilya Sorokin, 10 years younger than Ovechkin, giving the fellow Russian his stick when asked — still had full appreciation of the moment. 

“No matter what team you were cheering for tonight, everyone was a hockey fan," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “Everyone on our side and their side can appreciate Ovi's accomplishment."

The run-up to the accomplishment was half the fun. Goal-counters from Washington to Moscow tracked the quest. Ticket prices surged and subsided based on how close Ovechkin was to catching and passing Gretzky.

If the pressure was mounting on Ovechkin at 39 in the twilight of his career, he didn't show it. And the Capitals made it their life's work to get him the record.

It finally came midway through the 77th game out of 82, bringing relief to everyone involved.

“Over the last couple of weeks, it has now turned into he’s right there,” Carbery said. “And for us, especially as coaches, we go to the hundreds and hundreds of hours that we’ve been trying to figure out ways to get him the next goal. (When) you’ve been working 80-hour weeks for the last two years to try to help get the next goal, it’s a pretty special moment for us to celebrate.”

The NHL and the Capitals put together a video montage of greats from Simone Biles and Michael Phelps to Tom Brady, LeBron James and Derek Jeter to congratulate Ovechkin. In that moment, it was clear this accomplishment transcended hockey — and even sports. Vladimir Putin added his congratulations after the sun rose in Moscow on Monday.

“It’s great for the game,” Ovechkin said. "It’s great for us to be involved for this moment. ... Right now, people celebrate, people are happy and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Longtime teammate John Carlson, who assisted on the tying 894th goal on Friday night, said he and the Capitals “were just along for the ride.” So was everyone else watching, and Ovechkin provided a ride of a lifetime. He made sure it has been a fun one.

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