Alex Ovechkin has moved within striking distance of hockey immortality, now just nine goals away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer after finding the net in the Washington Capitals' 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.

The Russian superstar scored his 886th career goal on an empty-netter late in the third period, backhanding the puck from center ice to seal the win for the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals. The goal was Ovechkin's 33rd of the season and marked another significant milestone as it gave him 1,600 career points, making him only the 11th player in NHL history to reach that impressive threshold.

"We all know what's happening and how historic it is," said Capitals center Dylan Strome after the game. "It's incredible. We obviously want to get him on the ice. He does a great job of finding ways to get open. I know (Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery) said it a couple of weeks ago, but he goes to where the puck is going to be and the right spots and those are huge goals."

With 18 games remaining in the regular season, Ovechkin appears poised to potentially break Gretzky's long-standing record before the playoffs begin. The 39-year-old winger has been on a scoring tear recently, tallying 11 goals in his last 14 games and 18 goals in 30 games since returning from a fractured left fibula suffered in November.

Kraken coach Dan Bylsma acknowledged the significance of Ovechkin's pursuit after Sunday's game, saying, "We all thought it was an unreachable mark at some point in time. We all put it in the category of, 'Well, that's never going to be reached.' But Ovechkin has been scoring 50 goals (a season) for an awful long time now. The number is what the number is, but I think what Alex has done is he's going to be the greatest goalscorer of all time. He shows no signs of stopping, so it's just a matter of time now that he will... officially take the mark as the greatest goal scorer of all time."

The game featured more than just Ovechkin's milestone moment. Connor McMichael scored his fourth goal in nine games at a pivotal moment, giving Washington a 3-2 lead with less than five minutes remaining. Earlier in the third period, tempers flared resulting in a full-scale skirmish between the teams after Tom Wilson cross-checked Josh Mahura along the boards. All ten players on the ice were penalized and sent to the box.

With the victory, the Capitals moved into a first-place tie with the Winnipeg Jets for the most points (92) in the league. Washington continues their season on Tuesday when they travel to California to face the Anaheim Ducks, where Ovechkin will have his next opportunity to inch closer to Gretzky's record.