NHL analyst drops 'hot take' on Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky's record against Islanders and not Penguins

Alex Ovechkin became the NHL’s leading goal scorer with his 895th goal on Sunday. He passed Wayne Gretzky during a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

Ovechkin scored in the second period from his usual power-play spot in the left circle. After the goal, he celebrated by sliding on the ice, similar to his 2018 fountain dive after winning the Stanley Cup.

NHL analyst Matthew Cauz shared a “hot take” about the moment on Monday's First Up podcast. He said that Ovechkin's record-breaking timing lacked excitement.

"I though here is my only hot take against it," Cauz said [2:15]. "I've actually have a couple. But in terms of flare, sense of dramatic, you did it too quickly. Uh, you did it on noon on a Sunday."

Cauz added that the moment could have had more build-up and drama. He believed it was too quick and quiet.

"You needed to wait till the final game against the penguins, against Crosby, and then it's like, Ooh, is he going to get it done? Is he going to get it done this year? Like, like, in terms of drama, script writing, that's what you do, you know, not, not on a Sunday afternoon," Cauz added.

Despite that view, the moment was quite special, and the arena had a completely different vibe. The Capitals' players got up from their bench and joined Ovechkin on the ice to celebrate the goal. Islanders players tapped their sticks in respect.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and Wayne Gretzky also honored him with a short ceremony during the game.

"They say records are made to be broken," Gretzky said, via NHL.com. "’I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that."

Ovechkin hugged Gretzky on the center ice in return.

Alex Ovechkin's coach talked about his special goal against the Islanders

Alex Ovechkin has scored 895 goals in 1,487 games to become the NHL's top goal scorer in the same number of games as Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin's coach, Spencer Carbery, painted a perfect picture of the historic goal in his words.

"We had a perfect view,” Carbery said. “Because that puck comes lateral, and ‘O's’ coming in on the left side. And this is the true greatness of Alex Ovechkin: I saw, there was nothing. I couldn't even see Sorokin, let alone netting. And he shoots that puck, and I didn't even know how it went in... and it finds a way through and beats him short side."

Alex Ovechkin has scored 43.9% of those goals from the same area: the left circle.