Ovechkin spoke about his emotions as he approached Gretzky's record.

Alexander Ovechkin, the Russian forward of the Washington Capitals hockey club, said that he likes the increased attention against the background of approaching the record of Canadian Wayne Gretzky in the number of goals scored in the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). He stated this in an interview with reporters on March 16.

"That's great. There are a lot of people watching now, a lot of attention. So it's pretty cool," Ovechkin said, his words are quoted on the team's page on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

"The secret of my throw? I don't know myself!"

Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin talks about his friendship with Gretzky, his pursuit of a record and his dream of playing at the 2026 Olympics

Ovechkin scored his 887th NHL goal on March 15, thereby reducing his gap from Wayne Gretzky's record to seven goals.

Earlier, on March 11, the Russian striker of the Washington Capitals said in an interview with Sport-Express that Gretzky would personally monitor how his record could be broken. Ovechkin added that he is in constant contact with the Canadian, they are on good friendly terms. Gretzky supports him and wishes him success in sports.