Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is 21 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time scoring record

The Washington Capitals took care of business on Saturday afternoon in the nation’s capital city, defeating the New York Rangers by a 7-4 final score. And doing the game, the ageless Alex Ovechkin continued his pursuit of history.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is already one of the most heralded players in NHL history. The legendary forward already has a ton of records on the NHL history books, but there's one more still to go that could put him in the pantheon of all-time greats.

The Great Eight is within striking distance of Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record of 894, which Gretzky reached on March 29, 1999, against the New York Islanders. Ovechkin began this season with 853 career goals.

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has scored goals against more unique goalies than any player in NHL history, passing Jaromir Jagr.

NHL star Alex Ovechkin picked up another record on Thursday night as he moved closer to replacing Wayne Gretzky as the league’s all-time leading scorer.

At the age of 39 and 21 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has the best goal-scoring pace in the NHL. Ovechkin has 21 goals in 29 games, including six in 11 games since returning from a broken leg that held him out for 40 days.