When Ovechkin broke the record in the second period, the game stopped. Officials rolled out a carpet onto the ice, and Ovechkin’s family along with NHL officials and Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Capitals came to the center of the rink.

Alexander Ovechkin has supplanted Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time goal scorer. Let that sink in for a moment, because even a few years ago, did it seem possible that anyone, from any era, could supplant Wayne Gretzky at anything?

His new record for most goals scored in the National Hockey League is, adjusted for competition, much more impressive than the Wayne Gretzky mark that he surpassed. When Mr Gretzky, “the Great One”, retired from hockey in 1999,