ELMONT, N.Y. — Alex Ovechkin stands alone.

The Washington Capitals’ captain — who burst into the NHL two decades ago and has hardly slowed down since, whose name is already etched throughout the league’s record book — wrote his name at the top of its most celebrated list Sunday with the 895th goal of his career. He climbed past Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 career goals, a mark Gretzky set in 1999 — and a record that was long thought to be unbreakable.

Ovechkin has never given much consideration to what others think is impossible. Impossible, in his world, is an opinion.

On the power play in the second period, Ovechkin flew into the zone and received a cross-ice pass from winger Tom Wilson. Ovechkin, who had already had a handful of chances, then did what he’s done now 895 times in his career: he fired the puck into the back of the net from the left faceoff circle.

Ovechkin thrust his arms into the air in celebration, then dove forward and slid on his stomach across the ice as his teammates streamed onto the ice to join him.

The Capitals fell to the New York Islanders, 4-1, at UBS Arena on Sunday, but the result hardly mattered to those filled the stands with red jerseys, transporting Capital One Arena north for the afternoon.

When Washington went on its first power play of the game, those red-clad fans rose to their feet. Chants of “Ovi! Ovi! Ovi” echoed during the announcement of the penalty; it was a tripping call on Casey Cizikas, drawn by defenseman Rasmus Sandin, but few could hear it in real time. What they could hear instead: the buzz of anticipation, as history loomed.

When Ovechkin caught the pass from Wilson at the top of the left circle, there was no doubt. A power-play goal from the place he made his legend was the only way No. 895 could go. And as he rocketed the shot past Ilya Sorokin — the 183rd different goaltender to be scored on by Ovechkin — the anticipation turned into an explosion.

Afterward, he was mobbed by his teammates at center ice, who quickly donned hats sporting the logo of the “GR8 Chase,” the slogan the league and team have used as Ovechkin’s pursuit has continued.

Players for the Islanders shook his hand as the arena prepared for a mid-game ceremony, with a carpet emblazoned with “Alex Ovechkin” and “895” placed at center ice. Gretzky, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and Ovechkin’s family all joined him.

“We have all witnessed history in front of greatness,” Bettman said.

After the game, Bettman, Gretzky and the Ovechkin family all visited the Capitals’ dressing room. So too did T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom and Devante Smith-Pelly, who have all shared the ice with Ovechkin in Washington.

Backstrom, long Ovechkin’s center, stepped away from the game in 2023 amid lingering hip issues. Oshie, long the heart of the Capitals, hasn’t played for Washington since last season, sidelined with a back that at times left him unable to stand. All three lifted the Stanley Cup with Ovechkin in 2018. So they were there for him again Sunday, too.

Sorokin, the Russian goalie unlucky enough to be in net for the Islanders on Sunday, also stopped by a dressing room that carried some evidence of Washington’s postgame celebration: a wet floor, a distinct aroma of beer. He gave his goalie stick to Ovechkin. He had signed it, and written “895!”

“It’s all about Ovi. Everyone knew how good of a goal scorer he is for his whole career. Then obviously he won the Stanley Cup in 2018, and to kind of have this — there’s good things ahead for us, for sure — but for him to have this, he’s the greatest goal scorer of all time,” Washington center Dylan Strome said, with beer in hand. “Everyone would agree with that now. It’s an incredible honor, and to be even a little part of it, it’s truly an honor. There’s not really words you can say to describe what you’re feeling.”

NHL record books will note that it was Strome who fed Wilson, who in turn fed Ovechkin, who let it fly for the record. In the moment, Connor McMichael watched his Washington teammates, and knew immediately.

“It was pretty cool, you know?” McMichael said. “I was just telling these guys, I had his jersey when I was 6 years old. Now to be his teammate for this moment, it’s really special. It’s something I can’t put into words. It’s an honor.”

When the Capitals drafted Ovechkin with the No. 1 pick in 2004, they knew they were getting a dominant physical force with an unparalleled shot. They couldn’t have known, though, how far he would go and how far he would take Washington along the way.

Ovechkin became synonymous with the Capitals and captured the hockey world’s attention with his sheer joy and relentless goal-scoring ability. In 2018, he helped Washington win the Stanley Cup for the first time, at long last arriving at a summit that some had started to doubt he would ever reach.

The next mountaintop was Gretzky’s record. In December 2022, he passed Gordie Howe for second place on the all-time list. Less than three years later, Ovechkin stood alone at the top.

“The way he shoots it. The way he creates it. The way he lets it go. It’s been incredible, honestly,” said Dainius Zubrus, who was Ovechkin’s first center with the Capitals. “When I came in the league and you see the records that Wayne created and the goal-scoring one, in my head, I thought, ‘That’s untouchable.’

“We’re talking about almost 900 goals. That’s 18 years scoring 50 goals a year. That’s a lot, a lot of goals. And then you’re like, ‘Oh, my God.’ I didn’t think that that’s going to be broken ever. And then Alex, I don’t know. ‘Unbelievable’ is probably not enough of a definition of what he’s doing.”

Ovechkin is 39 now, and he missed 16 games this season with a fractured left fibula but still smashed through the ceiling set by Gretzky. This was not a case of an aging star being force-fed cheap goals, all in service of reaching an individual milestone. This was, instead, a franchise cornerstone marching toward history with a cadre of talented players by his side — all adding up to one of the best teams in the NHL.

Washington’s management knew that having a good team around Ovechkin was the best way to ensure he could break the record. And Ovechkin has long known that the best thing he can do to help the Capitals is score goals.

When the two worked in concert, a strong team and an indefatigable player, it produced this: a nearly unbreakable record broken and a team with legitimate aspirations of adding a second Stanley Cup title to Ovechkin’s trophy case.

Along the way, as No. 895 drew closer, fans across the NHL took notice. Road arenas filled with far more red jerseys — often emblazoned with Ovechkin’s No. 8 on the back — than normal, but even fans of opposing teams were swept up in the chase.

They chanted his name from Boston to San Jose and from Ottawa to Winnipeg, across international borders and regardless of what team they arrived at the game to support. Even in Pittsburgh, where Ovechkin has long been an enemy to Penguins fans, the anticipation whenever he touched the ice was palpable.