Records, as they say, are meant to be broken. But when Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's career goals record in 1994—then added 92 more by the time he retired (giving him 894)—many thought that record was about as safe as it could get.
Fast forward 25 years and Washington Capitals left winger Alexander Ovechkin is on the precipice of making history.
The longtime Caps captain is on the verge of breaking Gretzky's record, sitting at 892 goals at the time of this writing. In a game or two, there likely will be a new man atop the NHL history books.
As he approaches this career-defining milestone, let's revisit the most prolific goal scorers in NHL history.
All-Time NHL Goal Leaders
Gretzky sits atop the list (for now), with 894 career goals, with Ovechkin just behind at 892. Gordie Howe is the only other player in NHL history with at least 800 goals, with 801 in his career. Jaromir Jagr (766), Brett Hull (741), Marcel Dionne (731), Phil Esposito (717) and Mike Gartner (708) are the only other players with at least 700 goals.
There are 12 other players with at least 600 goals. In total, there are currently 48 players in NHL history with 500 goals, however, there are a couple of active players close to crossing that threshold, including John Tavares (492) and Patrick Kane (490).
Gretzky is considered by just about everyone to be the greatest hockey player to ever lace up a pair of skates. He currently holds 62 NHL records, to go along with 10 Art Ross trophies, nine Hart trophies and four Stanley Cups.
Even when Gretzky's goal record is broken by Ovechkin, his status as the greatest NHL player in history will remain unquestioned. His legacy is and impact to the game is so impressive that he's often compared to athletes outside of hockey, because there's very little comparison to be had amongst his colleagues.
Meanwhile, Ovechkin's first (and second) career goal came on Oct. 5, 2005, in a Washington victory over the Blue Jackets. Now, 20 years later, and "Ovi" continues to put the puck in the net at a dazzling rate.
He's so prolific on the left side that Washington has long run a play called "Board Side O," which sets Ovechkin up off the faceoff, where he's scored 210 goals since 2007.
Ovechkin has been incredibly consistent over his career. He's scored at least 30 goals in all but one of his 20 seasons with Washington. He's scored 50+ in nine of them. It doesn't seem to matter who his teammates are, Ovechkin scores the puck.
Milestone Goals and Iconic Moments in NHL History
On Dec.19, 1917, Dave Ritchie became the first player to score an NHL goal, doing so as a member of the Montreal Wanderers.
The Hamilton Tigers' Joe Malone became this first player to score 100 goals, which he accomplished on Feb. 5, 1921. Malone's 143 career goals would be the record until Feb. 17, 1923, when Cy Denneny broke it.
Howie Morenz set the record on Dec. 23, 1933 with the Montreal Canadiens, eventually retiring with 271 goals. Nels Stewart (New York Americans) became the all-time leader in goals on Feb. 16, 1937. He retired with 324 in his career.
Stewart's record stood for 15 years until Maurice Richard (Candiens) broke it on Nov. 8, 1952. Richard would eventually blow the record out of the water, retiring with 544 goals.
Almost 11 years to the day later, Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings) would break Richard's record, then add another 357 to it. Howe became the first player in NHL history to score 800 goals. No wonder they call him "Mr. Hockey."
Gretzky, as previously mentioned, broke the record on March 23, 1994 with the Los Angeles Kings.
Most Goals in a Single NHL Season
Unsurprisingly, Gretzky's name is all throughout the list of highest goal scorers in a single season. Only eight different players in NHL history have scored 70+ goals in a season and Gretzky's done it four times in total. He is first and second on the list, having the distinction of being the only player in history to score 90 goals in a single season.
Auston Matthews fell just short of the mark in 2023-24. He finished with 69 goals, which is the most in a single season since 1992-93.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Who Has Scored the Most Goals in NHL History?.