Alex Ovechkin is on track to break Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is closing in on the NHL career goals record of 894 held by Wayne Gretzky.

Ovechkin has 868 goals after scoring 15 in the first 18 games this season. He needs 27 to set a new record.

Ovechkin entered the season 42 short of breaking a record by “The Great One” that long seemed unapproachable. The 39-year-old Russian is in his 20th NHL season and was on pace to get to 895 in February before injuring his left leg in a shin-on-shin collision and getting listed as week to week.

Ovechkin scored twice in a 6-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday night, getting goals 867 and 868 in his first game in Salt Lake City before leaving in the third period following a shin-on-shin collision with Jack McBain.

Ovechkin's goals on Utah goaltender Connor Ingram marked the 178th different goaltender he has scored on in his 20-year NHL career. He is tied for the league record with Jaromir Jagr. His first goal came with 8:55 left in the first period. He struck again 5:38 into the second.

It was his 177th multigoal game, which is second to Gretzky (189).

It's unclear when Ovechkin will play next.

Ovechkin already owns the NHL records for power-play goals with 316 and shots on goal with 6,690.

He also has 132 game-winning goals, four away from breaking Jagr's mark (135).

Ovechkin has scored on 178 different goaltenders and counting, tying Jagr.

Ovechkin earlier this season became the 60th player to record 700 career assists and is now at 707. He joined Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jagr, Dionne and Phil Esposito as the only players with 700 goals and 700 assists.

Ovechkin, after climbing past Mike Gartner (708), Esposito (717), Dionne (731), Brett Hull (741) and Jagr (766), scored goal No. 802 on Dec. 23, 2022, to move into second all time behind Gretzky (894).

Gretzky has held the record since scoring his 802nd goal on March 23, 1994, to pass Howe. He added 92 more before retiring in 1999 after a total of 1,487 games over 20 seasons. Ovechkin has played in 1,444 total games so far.

Gretzky holds 55 NHL records and even if his goals mark falls to Ovechkin — which he has said repeatedly he is excited about — two seem truly untouchable: 2,857 total points and 1,963 assists, which alone is more than anyone else has in goals and assists combined.

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Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin waits for a face off in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Back on the ice after a 6-month suspension from the league, Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin (13) looks for a pass as Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, center, defends in the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) stands on the ice before an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin shoots during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates after scoring against the Vegas Golden Knights for a hat trick during the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says a U.S.-Israel panel to look into reports of civilian harm from the war in Gaza will meet for the first time in early December, missing by more than a month a U.S. call for the channel to be set up by the end of October.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday that the upcoming meeting had been agreed to after much discussion between U.S. and Israeli officials on specific incidents and reports of civilian casualties involving American-made or -supplied weapons.

“The purpose of this channel is to inform the ongoing work that the State Department has to make assessments about the use of U.S.-provided weapons,” Miller told reporters. “It’s to gather information about incidents that have been raised that are cause of concern or cause of questions.”

He said the information gathered through that channel will inform U.S. policy decisions about any response to potential violations of international humanitarian law in the conflict that has been raging since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which led to its retaliatory offensives in Gaza.

Experts say famine may already have set in in northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging a weekslong offensive that has killed hundreds of people and driven tens of thousands from their homes.

In October, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to top Israeli officials warning them that the Biden administration might limit the provision of some U.S. weapons systems to Israel, a close ally, if action to improve humanitarian conditions was not taken within 30 days.

That deadline expired last week with no decisions being made on military aid and officials saying that Israel had taken some positive steps but was still not meeting the criteria for improvements laid out in the letter.

Aid groups say the situation in Gaza has actually deteriorated instead of improved and urged the U.S. to respond accordingly.

The theft in Gaza over the weekend of nearly 100 trucks loaded with food and other much-needed humanitarian aid sent prices soaring and caused shortages in central Gaza, where most of the population of 2.3 million people have fled and where hundreds of thousands are crammed into squalid tent camps.

Miller said reports of such incidents demonstrated a breakdown in law and order in Gaza and underscored the need to end the fighting and restore functioning governance to the territory.

“You are not going to fully, finally solve this problem without an end to the war and the establishment of a new governance and security authority inside Gaza, because ultimately that is the problem,” he said.

Palestinians queue for food in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)