It’s the hockey equivalent of Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron with his 756th home run, or LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his 38,388th point — a modern legend chasing down one of the most revered records in sports, held by one of the most revered athletes of all time. Here’s a little historical perspective on Ovechkin’s feat:

Ovechkin's arrival in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area and his goal-scoring prowess helped trigger an explosion of hockey in the region long before he became the NHL's all-time goals leader on Sunday, passing Wayne Gretzky with No. 895.

The Washington Capitals got back to work three days after Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record and hope to get their game on track with the playoffs fast approaching.