Alex Ovechkin Officially Breaks the All-Time NHL Goal Record Held by Wayne Gretzky

It was a night for the record books in D.C., a night when Alex Ovechkin cemented his name in hockey history by scoring a pair of goals, putting himself alongside Wayne Gretzky's long-standing record for most in NHL history.

The time finally came when the Capital One Arena crowd broke into thunderous applause as Ovechkin scored his 894th career goal to tie Gretzky.

Play was suspended as his teammates came flooding down from the bench in jubilation, engulfing him in a sea of red bear hugs.

There was emotion etched across his face. Ovechkin saluted in the crowd his family, the devoted Washington faithful, and legend himself, Wayne Gretzky, who attended in order to share in the moment. The story, however, did not stop there.

Flash forward a couple of nights later, and now Ovechkin has broken through once more. On this goal, he officially captured the NHL all-time scoring lead from Gretzky at 895, cementing his place as the best goal-scorer the NHL has ever seen.

As everyone imagined, the crowd erupted and saluted Ovechkin as he raised his stick in triumph of the moment he, the hockey world, and his family, had so patiently anticipated.

Congratulations Ovi, and here's to maybe one day hitting the 1,000 goal mark. With the way he's playing, it sure seems like a realistic possibility.