Madden Monday: For Alex Ovechkin, there's a difference between most goals and greatest goal-scorer ever

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin set the all-time NHL goal record Sunday afternoon, scoring on a power play against the New York Islanders to net the 895th of his career.

With the goal, Ovechkin passed Wayne Gretzky for the all-time mark in 1,487 regular season games.

Gretzky played exactly that many games in his career.

ALEX OVECHKIN IS THE GREATEST GOALSCORER IN NHL HISTORY! ???????????? #Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/NKef3VvNaJ

— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025

However, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 the X says there’s a difference between having the most career goals and being the best goal scorer ever.

“The numbers don’t lie. (Ovechkin) has the most goals. I still don’t think he’s the best goal-scorer in NHL history. I don’t think Gretzky was either,” Madden said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “I think the two best pure finishers are Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy. And I think if both didn’t have their careers abbreviated by injury, each would have been a threat to score 1,000 career goals. I think Mario would have, in fact.”

Back problems forced Bossy into retirement at 30. Lemieux lost extended stretches of numerous seasons to back issues, as well as a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in 1993.

Lemieux ended his career with 690 goals in 915 season games. Bossy had 573 goals in 752 games. For an 82-game average, Lemieux and Bossy put up 62 goals, Gretzky and Ovechkin put up 49.

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Regardless, Madden says he would’ve liked to have seen a more widespread celebration of Ovechkin’s accomplishment.

“I was a bit disappointed by the hype leading up to the event and breaking the record,” Madden said. “They tried. The NHL just isn’t very good at it. And right in the middle of March Madness, it seemed to kind of ring flat in terms of national exposure. I’m glad he broke it. I think he’s very deserving. I think Penguins fans would agree he’s a worthy opponent.”

Madden says don’t rule out the possibility of Ovechkin getting to that 1,000-goal mark.

“Three good years,” Madden predicted for how long it might take for Ovechkin to reach that plateau. “The odds are against him, certainly. But I wouldn’t bet against him either.”

Also, in the podcast, Madden and I discuss the Penguins’ wild run through the Central Division last week, the Pirates’ bumpy start, and the ongoing quest to see if Aaron Rodgers will sign with the Steelers.