PHILADELPHIA — Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th career goal to move within 16 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record and the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Thursday night.

Captain gets outscored by fellow Russian Matvei Michkov but moves to within 16 goals of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record in Washington’s win over Philadelphia.

Alex Ovechkin continued his chase of Wayne Gretzky, Jakob Chychrun had the game-winning goal and an assist and Charlie Lindgren came up big when he had to en route to a 4-3 win. H

Head coach Spencer Carbery defended his tactic of throwing out the team's best goal scorer when, typically, teams are looking to defend against their opponent's extra attacker in the waning minutes.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 878th career goal into an empty net with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to move closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record, and the Washington Capitals defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 6-3.

WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored his 878th NHL goal in the Washington Capitals 6-3 win against the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

ARLINGTON, Va. — As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the Washington Capitals' win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, captain Alex Ovechkin got a hold of a loose puck while defending 5-on-6, and after pump-faking a shot, iced the game with an empty-netter with just .1 seconds left on the clock.

We're tracking Ovechkin's pursuit of Gretzky's goal record and trying to determine the game in which he's most likely to break the record.

With 10 goals since his return to action on Dec. 28 and his recent streak, it's possible we could witness Alex Ovechkin make history in the coming months.