Wayne Gretzky plans to be present for Capitals' coming games as Alex Ovechkin closes in on his NHL goal record: Reports

Wayne Gretzky will reportedly be in the crowd when Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin breaks his NHL goalscoring record. Offside shared an update about his travel plans on Instagram on Wednesday.

“Gretzky will be in attendance for all Capitals games once Ovechkin gets closer to his record 🚨‼️,” Offside captioned.

The post cited a CBC article written by sports reporter Chris Jones.

“The latest projections had him (Ovechkin) eclipsing Gretzky against Chicago on April 4, with six games remaining,” Jones wrote on Friday.

“Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will start travelling with the Capitals when Ovechkin has four or five goals to go, just in case the unfathomable begets itself, and they will join him on the ice whenever his record-breaking effort comes.”

Ovechkin, nicknamed "The Great 8," has 886 goals and needs nine more to pass Gretzky. The Russian forward has scored 33 goals in 49 games this season. He missed 16 games after suffering a broken fibula caused by a knee-on-knee collision with Utah Hockey Club’s Jack McBain in November.

Ovechkin was originally projected to break Gretzky’s record on April 10, but a hat trick against the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 23 led to that estimate getting revised. His latest goal came against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.

Gretzky has publicly said that he is looking forward to his record being broken and has encouraged Ovechkin repeatedly this season. In October, Ovechkin talked about Gretzky reaching out to him.

"It's great," Ovechkin said, via NHL.com. "Even when I have a slump, he (Gretzky) will sometimes text me and say, 'Don't worry about it. It will come.' He's on my side."

Sidney Crosby joins Alex Ovechkin in chasing one of Wayne Gretzky’s many records

Alex Ovechkin is not the only active NHL player eyeing one of Wayne Gretzky’s records. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is on track to break a different NHL record held by him.

Crosby needs 10 points in the last 15 games of the season to pass Gretzky’s record of 19 consecutive seasons with an average of at least a point per game. However, he is focused on his team doing well.

“You let the points take care of themselves," Crosby said to reporters on Wednesday, via The New York Times. "It’s not different than Alex and what he’s doing.”

The Penguins center has 23 goals and 47 assists for 70 points from 65 games this season.