On Friday, Alex Ovechkin made history. The Washington Capitals winger notched two goals against the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring his 893rd and 894th career goals to tie Wayne Gretzky for the all-time NHL scoring record.

Ovechkin's record-tying goal came off a power play in the third period, break a 3-3 tie with Chicago. Soon after the goal, Gretzky went on the broadcast to sing Ovechkin's praises.

"This is what the game is all about. Alex has been great for the game, great for Washington, great for his own country. It’s wonderful. I’m very proud of him. I’m proud of what I accomplished and that’s what makes our game so wonderful, the great athletes that we have and the wonderful people that they are," Gretzky said on the broadcast.

"He’s special. You know, when [Mark] Messier retired and Gordie Howe retired and [Mario] Lemieux retired and Bobby Orr retired, we thought, ‘OK, what’s going to happen to our game now?’ And then along came Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, and now we’ve got [Connor] McDavid, [Nathan] MacKinnon, Matthew [Tkachuk]," Gretzky added. "Our game just gets better all the time, and that’s why it’s so special."

Gretzky added that he hoped that Ovechkin would break the record that night: "I hope it happens tonight. It would be fun. He deserves it in front of the fans," he said.

Unfortunately, the game ended before Ovechkin could secure a hat trick. But the two goals alone was enough to fire up the crowd.

Ovechkin reached the milestone in front of an electric home crowd in Washington's Capital One Arena. After hitting the goal, Ovechkin celebrated with the rest of his teammates on the ice, with the entire Capitals bench clearing to cheer on their captain. Ovechkin also took a victory lap to celebrate with his family on the other side of the glass.

While celebrating, Ovechkin took a moment to bow to Gretzky in the stands. Gretzky has been attending the past few Capitals games as Ovechkin closes in on the record.

Even after the 5-3 Washington win, the Blackhawks stayed on the ice to congratulate Ovechkin for the feat.

Ovechkin is now just one goal shy of breaking Gretzky's all-time record, and he has six regular-season games left to do it.

Scott Taetsch via Getty Images

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have discussed the possibility of a game between American and Russian hockey players, according to a summary of the conversation released Tuesday by the Russian government.

A release from the Kremlin, which summarized various topics from a call between the two presidents on Tuesday, included a mention of a potential hockey matchup between players from the NHL and the KHL, the Russian hockey league. Per the release, President Trump supported President Putin's suggestion to hold hockey games between NHL and KHL players in both the United States and Russia.

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The NHL responded to news of the phone call with identical statements shared with ESPN and The Athletic.

"We have just become aware of the conversation between President Trump and President Putin," the NHL said in the statement. "Obviously, we were not a party to those discussions and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time."

Russian hockey has not competed internationally since February 2022, after the International Ice Hockey Federation placed sanctions on the team when Russia invaded Ukraine. Last month, the IIHF extended the ban through 2026, meaning the team will not be allowed to participate in the 2026 Olympics in Milan, under the Russian flag. 2026 is set to be the first time in a decade NHL players will participate in the Olympics.

The NHL broke off from the KHL in 2022, around the same time as the initial sanctions from the IIHF. Prior to the invasion, the NHL was connected to the KHL, with the two even holding a few cross-league friendlies in 2008 and 2010.