With 895 Goals, A Huge Weight Comes Off Ovechkin's Shoulders, And A New Record & Legacy Is Set

As Alex Ovechkin slid across the ice at UBS Arena, it was easy to see the weight and pressure leave his body.

Replacing it? Euphoria, pride and other emotions that the Washington Capitals captain still hasn't really processed yet.

"I still can't believe it," Ovechkin said after the game.

The 39-year-old scored his record-breaking goal — the 895th of his career — in fitting fashion from the left circle on the power play in the second period of Sunday's contest against the New York Islanders.

At that point, the game came to a standstill, as Ovechkin was mauled by his teammates and honored in a lengthy mid-game ceremony featuring his family, commissioner Gary Bettman and Wayne Gretzky himself, who was there to officially pass the torch.

Even the Islanders, including Ilya Sorokin, lined up to shake Ovechkin's hand, to get their fix of greatness.

“It's not often nowadays you get shivers out on the ice and you truly get that crazy ‘out of body’ feeling. But to see him at center ice, to see his kids come on the ice, to see his family out there, you just try and take it all in because it's truly amazing," Tom Wilson said.

It's the ultimate crowning achievement, one that doesn't just immortalize Ovechkin as the greatest goal scorer to ever play the game but also takes away the outside noise, the critics, the doubters and the circus that seemed neverending.

"I think it's been incredible. I think for him there's times where it's extremely stressful. He's gotta balance everything's that he has going on with the magnitude of it with our team ,with his family, with doing the right thing for hockey," John Carlson, who assisted on No. 894, said.

"For us we're just, 'Oh, Ovi scored, that's fantastic! Awesome.' For him, he's answering questions every single night, wherever he goes, there's 20, 30 extra people in every city that are interviewing him and people are pulling him each way. I mean, he signs 100 things for people after games," he added. "Honestly, his generosity of both time and effort and willingness has been admirable to watch, too. I think with everything he has going on with the hurdles and with trying to do the right thing, say the right thing, be a human being and try to be at your best peak performance. Nobody can speak to the pressure he was under throughout that and to do what he's doing at this age is incredible, too. I think people are sleeping on that, too. Just, like, he missed two months and he might score 50 goals. Like, that's nuts. It's crazy."

Now, as Ovechkin turns the page, he gets to reflect on what it's like to sit alone on the mountaintop and to own a record that — at least right now — seems unbreakable. Just as Gretzky's 894 seemed for 31 years.

"This is something crazy. I'm probably gonna need a couple more days or maybe a couple weeks to realize what does it mean to be No. 1," Ovechkin said. "But I can say I'm very proud. I'm really proud for myself. I'm really proud for my family, for all my teammates that help me to reach that milestone and for all my coaches. It's huge. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable moment and I'm happy."