New York, New York - Russian winger Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goalscoring record on a historic night for the Washington Capitals star.

Two days on from going level with Gretzky on Friday, the 39-year-old scored the 895th goal of his NHL career in his side's 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

Gretzky, widely regarded as the greatest ice hockey player of all time, had held the record since passing Gordie Howe in 1994.

Ovechkin has been with the Capitals since being the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL draft and helped the Washington franchise win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2018.

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Gretzky still remains the leading point scorer in NHL history, having tallied 1,963 assists alongside his 894 goals for a total of 2,857 points.

"What a day, huh?" Ovechkin said during a ceremony on the ice. "Like I always said, all the time, it's a team sport and without my boys, the whole organization, the fans, the trainers, coaches, I would never stand here and obviously I would never pass the 'Great One.' So, fellas, thank you very much. I love you so much."

"Thank you to [Islanders goaltender Ilya] Sorokin to let me score 895. I love you, brother. All of you fans, the whole world, Russia, we did it, boys, we did it, it's history. Yeah!

"And the most important thing, to my mom, my family, my beautiful wife, my father-in-law, my beautiful kids, thank you. I love you so much and without you, without your support, I would never stand here."

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Gretzky was in attendance and said as he congratulated Ovechkin: "I can tell you first-hand, I know how hard it is to get 894 – 895 is pretty special.

"They say records are made to be broken, but I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that."

A video posted on X by the NHL included congratulatory words for Ovechkin from sporting greats such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, and Roger Federer.