Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is still coming to terms with what he’s done, three days after scoring his 895th career NHL goal to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. Ovechkin returned to practice on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's first game back home in Washington with the Capitals.

Ovechkin, after climbing past Mike Gartner (708), Esposito (717), Dionne (731), Brett Hull (741) and Jagr (766), scored goal No. 802 on Dec. 23, 2022, to move into second behind Gretzky (894). He got his 895th in his 1,487th regular-season game, the same number Gretzky finished with.

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. Gretzky said it was important to “the integrity of the game” to make sure he was there in case Ovechkin broke his mark,