Capitals' Alex Ovechkin passes Wayne Gretzky as NHL goal king - ESPN

NEW YORK — Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored goal No. 895 on Sunday, passing Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL's all-time goal scoring leader.

Ovechkin, on a pass from longtime teammate Tom Wilson, netted the record breaker in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders with a power-play goal past fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin with 12:34 left in the second period of Sunday's game — the 1,487th game of his career, the same as Gretzky's career total.

With Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, the game came to a standstill as players and fans celebrated the historic moment.

«They say that records are made to be broken, but I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that,» said Gretzky, before shaking Ovechkin's hand.

When Casey Cizikas took a tripping penalty seven minutes into the second period, the arena echoed with chants of «Ovi! Ovi!» from the considerable number of Capitals fans who attended the Islanders home game.

Ovechkin ripped his shot from the top of the left circle — aka the «Ovi spot» where he has scored the majority of the goals in his career. He turned and did a belly slide over the blue line into the neutral zone as his teammates hopped over the boards in celebration.

A sight we've seen 894 times before this and each and every single time has been in a Capitals sweater.

Thank you, O!!! pic.twitter.com/NgDK9EZopG

Ovechkin eventually skated to center ice and applauded the crowd and then pointed to the sky with his gloves, a gesture he has made in the past to honor departed loved ones.

He skated over to the Capitals bench and hugged coaches and staff members while arena workers walked carpets out to the ice for the ceremony — including one with «Alex Ovechkin — 895» on