Gretzky broke out of his mini-slump with his 799th goal and three assists in a 7-0 win against the Ottawa Senators. Three games later, he scored Nos. 800 and 801 in a 6-6 tie against the San Jose Sharks.

While in the Hall of Fame’s famed Stick Storage Centre, which holds more than 4,000 sticks, the oldest dating to 1875, Ovechkin was fascinated with an old, wooden one with a long flat blade. It belonged to Maurice Richard, who held the NHL goal record with 544 before Howe passed him on Nov. 10, 1963.