Ovechkin scored his 872nd NHL goal and cut the gap to Gretzky to 22 goals

Russian forward and captain of the Washington Capitals hockey club Alexander Ovechkin scored a puck in the regular season National Hockey League (NHL) match against the New York Rangers, thus reducing the gap to Wayne Gretzky to 22 goals.

Ovechkin's puck in the 51st minute helped Washington win the home game. The home team won 7-4.

In addition to Ovechkin, Washington's forwards Dylan Strome, Lars Eller, Andrew Mangiapane, Connor McMichael, Alexei Protas and Tom Wilson scored. The New York Rangers got goals from forwards Chris Kreider, Sam Carrick, Philip Heatil and Mika Zibanejad.

At the end of the game, Washington leads the Eastern Conference with 55 points in 39 games. "The New York Rangers are 14th in the standings.

Ovechkin is second on the list of the best snipers in NHL history. His total number of goals in championships is now 872. This season, the hockey player took part in 23 games, scoring 19 pucks in them.

Earlier, on January 3, Ovechkin scored his 871st puck in the game against the Minnesota Wild and reduced the gap between Wayne Gretzky and 23 goals. However, this puck did not help "Washington" to win. The hockey player did not realize his shootout, and the club suffered a defeat with a score of 3:4.

Before that, January 2, Ovechkin was in second place in the list of the best hockey players of the XXI century according to the Canadian website Sportsnet. Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby came first on the list.