The lowly Chicago Blackhawks were in town — along with Wayne Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman — and the goals were flying fast and early at Capital One Arena. Ovechkin took the ice in the eventual 5-3 Capitals ' win needing two goals to tie Gretzky's record of 894 goals and a three to break it.

Chicago put goalie Spencer Knight back in the game after that, so Ovechkin came back in and nearly got the hat trick anyway. He got four shot attempts off in the final two minutes and was agonizingly close to the record-breaking goal, but Knight had other plans.

Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky for the NHL all-time goals record with two tallies against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. He had the opportunity to go for the hat trick and No. 895 with an empty-netter late in the game,