Alex Ovechkin holds the NHL record for career goals after surpassing Wayne Gretzky in April 2025. Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders, with Gretzky in attendance, according to the source text.
Wayne Gretzky finished his 20-year career in 1999 with an NHL-record 894 goals in 1,487 games and owned or shared 61 NHL records at the time of his retirement, the source text says.
Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal came in the 1,487th game of his NHL career, matching Gretzky’s total games played. The 2026-27 season marks Ovechkin’s 22nd in the NHL, and the compiled list in the source shows his career total at 929 goals.
According to the provided list, the top career goal scorers in NHL history are: Alex Ovechkin 929; Wayne Gretzky 894; Gordie Howe 801; Jaromir Jagr 766; Brett Hull 741; Marcel Dionne 731; Phil Esposito 717; Mike Gartner 708; Mark Messier 694; Steve Yzerman 692; Mario Lemieux 690; Teemu Selanne 684; Luc Robitaille 668; Brendan Shanahan 656; Sidney Crosby 654; Dave Andreychuk 640; Joe Sakic 625; Jarome Iginla 625; Steven Stamkos 624; Bobby Hull 610; Dino Ciccarelli 608; Jari Kurri 601.
The list provided in the source text denotes Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos as active players.
