Alex Ovechkin comes to town in pursuit of one of hockey’s most hallowed records, making a late run at Wayne Gretzky’s NHL mark of 894 goals scored when the Washington Capitals visit the Sharks Saturday afternoon.
Ovechkin, 38, has 886 career goals heading to the same site where Gretzky, then with the Los Angeles Kings, caught Gordie Howe in a 6-6 tie with his 800th and 801st goals on March 20, 1994. With 15 games remaining in Washington’s season, Ovechkin needs eight goals to tie and nine to pass Gretzky.
Even for Ovechkin, a three-time Hart Trophy winner as the NHL’s MVP, the odds seem against him, but no more unlikely than the way things unfolded for Gretzky when he tied Howe at what was then called San Jose Arena.
“It was always a wild atmosphere when the Kings came in with Gretzky and there was always an anticipation,” said Dan Rusanowsky, the Sharks’ radio voice since their inception. “There was always an an excitement and tension from people who didn’t necessarily follow the game all the time.”
The Sharks were in their third season as a franchise after playing their first two seasons at the Cow Palace in Daly City while awaiting construction of their new arena. Founded in 1990, the Sharks were the first professional hockey franchise in the Bay Area since the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 and the first major sport San Jose could call its own.
The Sharks had finished last in the Pacific Division in each of its first two seasons, winning 11 and 17 games under coach George Kingston. Things changed in Year 3 under Kevin Constantine, and when Gretzky came to town within striking distance of Howe, the Sharks were battling for a playoff berth against both the Kings and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
So while there was awareness in a fledgling hockey community that Gretzky was the verge of something big, the main emphasis was on the home team according to Mike Weaver, a former Mercury News reporter who covered the Sharks.
“As far as Wayne Gretzky’s record, everyone knew it was going to happen. It was a given,” Weaver said. “But the focus was, ‘Are the Sharks going to make the playoffs?’”
The game was played on a Sunday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 17,190. Gretzky came in with 799 career goals and scored No. 800 at 6:16 of the first period, stealing the puck from a Sharks defenseman and scoring on a back-hander past goaltender Arturs Irbe.
Gretzky’s second goal not only tied Howe for the all-time record, but tied the game in the last minute of regulation and kept the Kings within five points of the Sharks in the standings.
With the crowd roaring and the Sharks up 6-5, the Kings pulled goaltender Kelly Hrudey for an extra attacker. With 49 seconds to play in regulation, Gretzky got a goal past Arturs Irbe to tie the score after seconds earlier having a shot stopped.
The reaction? Stunned silence, followed by a crescendo of applause for the record-tying moment after an “801” was put on the scoreboard.
“The game was tied up, but then fans starting clicking in to the fact that, `Hey, he just tied Howe’s record.,’ ” Rusanowsky said. “Some people didn’t even realize it.”
The Sharks would eventually would not only make the playoffs, but beat the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings ins even games in the first round in a landmark moment for the franchise. But none of that was known the day Gretzky tied Howe.
“The people in the building got to see history, but it was kind of deflating for them, too, because it was an important goal for them at the time,” Weaver said. “It was bittersweet in that they watched a game get away from them from a win to a tie in a race for the last playoff spot.”
Gretzky told reporters the tying goal had added meaning because it changed an outcome during a playoff race. The Sharks, who would go on to make the playoffs, had mixed emotions.
“If we were up 7-5, I would have been more excited,” Sharks forward Ray Whitney told reporters. “I’m glad I was part of his tying goal, but I wish it hadn’t come at that time. It was good to see. But I could have watched it on TV instead.”
The Sharks created a handout for fans at a subsequent game that had the lineups that night with a depiction of an actual ticket stub in the center. Around the edge of the handout, it read: “Authentic Ticket from Wayne Gretzky’s NHL Goal Record-Tying Game – 801st Goal.”
Ovechkin, a Russian who has played his entire career in Washington, scored a backhanded goal into an empty net from the neutral zone Tuesday night in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken for his 886th goal (and 1,600th career point). He was scoreless in a 3-0 loss to the Kings in Los Angeles Thursday night.
After Gretzky tied Howe, he broke the record on the road in Vancouver. The Sharks, meanwhile, were on a road trip to Toronto. Rusanowsky and others were dining in a restaurant Gretzky owned near the SkyDome when it happened.
“The manager handed out information cards, you filled them out, and I sent it in and got picture of Gretzky scoring that goal,” Rusanowsky said. “I still have that somewhere.”
Whether it happens this season or next season, having Ovechkin become the NHL’s all-time goal scorer is something Weaver never expected.
“I didn’t think anyone would break Gretzky’s record,” Weaver said. “I remember Gretzky was humble and gracious and when he broke Howe’s record and he’ll be humble and gracious when his record is broken because that’s who he is.”
The same goes for Rusanowsky.
“I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime,” Rusanowsky said. “Never.”
Gretzky finished his 20-year career with 894 goals, four of which came at San Jose Arena with one at the Cow Palace. Ovechkin enters Saturday night’s game with five goals in San Jose, with the last two coming in 2021.
Ovechkin has overcome a broken leg this season that cost him 16 games and weathered speculation over the last couple of seasons that his game is slipping.
“When he was struggling and squeezing the stick a little bit, guess who was calling him on the phone?,” Rusanowski said. “It was Wayne Gretzky, calling Ovechkin and encouraging him, telling him to stay with it. That’s a carryover from when Gretzky was approaching Gordie Howe’s record and Gordie was calling to encourage him. That’s a nice little tradition we have in hockey, that the game is a little bit bigger than any one record or individual.”