The Athletic has live coverage of Alex Ovechkin’s journey to break Wayne Gretzky’s career goal record. WASHINGTON — Wayne Gretzky first played against the Washington Capitals during his rookie season in 1979.

Wayne Gretzky is all aboard the Gr8 Chase train, as he began following Alex Ovechkin on Friday night amid his quest to become the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer.

Alex Ovechkin scored career goal No. 895 on Sunday, breaking one of sports' all-time great records and passing hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time goal scorer. Ovechkin did so with a slapshot past New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin in a road game.