Malkin Pays Tribute to Dear Friend and Countryman Ovechkin After Historic Goal

The story of the NHL in the past 24 hours has been Alex Ovechkin, who officially tied Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history with 894 following an impressive double against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The celebration was iconic, with the fans in attendance, Ovechkin's teammates and even Gretzky celebrating what an incredible player Ovi is and how impressive it is that he has reached this milestone, with plenty of other people paying tribute to him as well.

That includes good friend and Russian teammate Evgeni Malkin, who posted this throwback photo of the two to social media, keeping his message incredibly simple in the post.

The word written on the post translated from Russian simple means 'great', and given that this race has been about 'The Great 8' chasing down a once unbreakable record set by 'The Great One', it's clearly a major sign of respect from a fellow Russian veteran.

A few years ago, many believed that even as great as Ovi has been, he would not be able to continue his run and chase down Gretzky, but with 41 goals as a 39-year old despite a broken leg this season, he deserves all the praise and acclaim that's coming his way.

Whether he passes the record in New York this Sunday or in another game this season, it's only a matter of time until the former No. 1 overall pick stands alone in NHL history, and it will forever stand as one of the best moments in league history when he finally hits No. 895.