Alex Ovechkin has proved himself to be the gritty star that many fans have praised him for years, and his success with the Washington Capitals can already be called a career at this point and he’d still earn a shot at the Hall of Fame without any doubt. However, it seems that he wants to cap off his legendary career by surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s scoring record in the NHL.

At the age of 39, nothing is already surprising for Alex Ovechkin. He gets injured? Well, he always comes back stronger than ever. He has a scoring slump? Well, he gets over it in just a short period of time. With Gretzky’s record standing at 894, it seems that Ovechkin may well be bringing the thunder in his next few games as he seeks to break the scoring record and set a new dynamic in the NHL as he continues to play at a higher level.

Before this week, Ovechkin was sitting at 887 goals total, and he came up with a huge performance to close the gap now more than ever. With the way he is pacing in the game right now – he could both break the scoring record and even set a bigger number in the long run, and then bring a huge finish by the end of the season by also leading the Washington Capitals to a coveted championship.

The Race to the Record

Alex Ovechkin has been focused on breaking the scoring record, and he has even partnered with the Hockey Fights Cancer and the V Foundation for Cancer Research to launch "THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer.” This campaign will see the star donate a dollar amount equal to the goal total he scores all the way to end of his career. Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Capitals, will match every donation.

"It's just a matter of time, whether it's late this year, early next year, whenever," Gretzky told NHL.com earlier this season about Ovechkin's chances of breaking his record. "I mean, he's a great player. He's a great goal scorer."

It can be remebered that Alex Ovechkin opened the season with 853 career goals in tow. He was blazing hot in his early games of the season, coming up with 15 goals in 18 games. Ovechkin did suffer a broken fibula back in November, leading him to miss five weeks of action. However, that did not do anything to hamper his goal-hunting pace at all.

In fact, Ovechkin scored four goals in his first five games coming off injury. To come up with a strong scoring run in his return from such an injury says a lot about the expectations set before him, which certainly brings a promising dynamic for the star’s hopes of proving his worth better than ever.

A Chance at a Title?

As of the time of writing, the Washington Capitals are the only team to have clinched a playoff spot so far – and that says a lot about how they are doing better than he 48-win Winnipeg Jets, who have just played a game more than the Caps so far.

Being able to clinch ahead of last year’s contenders in the Edmonton Oilers and champions Florida Panthers, one can say that Ovechkin has played a huge role in leading the charge – and the Capitals are reaping all the massive benefits now more than ever.

Who knows, maybe this could end up as a massive season to remember for Alex Ovechkin, who is definitely going to clinch that scoring record anytime this week. After all, another championship could only add to his already legendary career.