Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is one of the most heralded players in NHL history. The legendary forward already has a ton of records on the NHL history books, but he's still chasing Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record.

The 39-year-old Ovechkin is within striking distance of Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record of 894. "The Great One" scored his final goal on March 29, 1999. "The Great Eight" could very well surpass that mark 26 years later.

Yet Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin is closing in on that Gretzky record. The Capitals drafted him with the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft and he has been in the NHL since

Ovechkin entered this season needing 42 goals to break Gretzky's record of 894 career goals, which has stood since 1999. The Washington captain has 26 goals this season, with 27 games left. This season, he moved into second place with 20 consecutive 20-goal seasons and set a record for the number of goalies he has scored against in his career.

Ovechkin commenced his career with two goals in his first game on NHL ice when Washington Capitals faced off against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 5, 2005. Since then, he has racked up tons of goals, so much so that he's now on track to pass Wayne Gretzky’s goal record of 894 this season.

Heading into the Capitals’ final 27 games, Ovechkin has 879 goals during his 20 NHL seasons, including 26 goals in 39 games this season, leaving him 16 from breaking Wayne Gretzky ’s League record of 894. Ovechkin insisted that record wasn’t on his mind during the break, though.

There’s still a lot of hockey left to be played,” center Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals said Friday. The Capitals captain in his 20th season is 16 back of passing Gretzky's mark of 894 goals that long seemed unapproachable.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th career goal to move within 16 of breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record to help the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3.