Man-to-man, he urged Ovechkin to keep going. "Keep going. Get to 900. If you get to 900, I might buy you a car," Gretzky said, passing the torch to Ovi the same way Gordie Howe did for him.

Gretzky wore that pin in honor of the late Gordie Howe, who owned the goals record before Gretzky. Howe was there in 1994 to ...

Gretzky did it 11 times. McDavid and Kucherov are the only active players to reach triple digits. Both registered exactly 100 assists last season, but that is a long way from Gretzky’s mark.

Howe was there in 1994 to shake Gretzky's hand when he broke the record, the same way Gretzky was there for Ovechkin Sunday. That's a nice touch.