While in the Hall of Fame’s famed Stick Storage Centre, which holds more than 4,000 sticks, the oldest dating to 1875, Ovechkin was fascinated with an old, wooden one with a long flat blade. It belonged to Maurice Richard, who held the NHL goal record with 544 before Howe passed him on Nov. 10, 1963.

We're tracking Ovechkin's pursuit of Gretzky's goal record and trying to determine the game in which he's most likely to break the record.

While Gretzky’s status is secure, his scoring record is not. At the end of February, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin trailed Gretzky by just 11 goals, putting him in line to potentially pass Gretzky by the end of the 2024-25 season.