WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin becoming just the third NHL player with 800 goals has put him on the verge taking his next big step in hockey history.

Ovechkin is just two goals from passing Gordie Howe for second on the career list. “Mr. Hockey” is the only player between Ovechkin and Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 that long seemed unapproachable. The longtime Washington Capitals captain remains very much on track to challenge the “Great One.”

Mark Howe told Ovechkin exactly that when they sat down last week.

“I said, ‘I know you’re going to pass Gordie, congratulations, but you have to have your sights set on No. 99,’’’ Howe recalled Wednesday, referring to Gretzky’s longtime sweater number. ”Because once you start getting close and once you see that it’s within reach, it makes it a huge motivating factor.”

But first, Nos. 801 and 802, which Ovechkin could score as soon as Thursday night at home against the Dallas Stars. The Capitals also host the Toronto Maple Leafs – on “Hockey Night in Canada,” no less – on Saturday and Gordie’s longtime former team, the Detroit Red Wings, on Monday night.

“Let’s take it step by step,” Ovechkin said Tuesday night in Chicago after reaching the 800-goal plateau with a hat trick that brought him a standing ovation. “It’s a big number. It’s the best company you ever can imagine since you started playing hockey, with Gordie (and Wayne) – 800, I’m the third person who ever scored that many goals.”

Mark Howe, Gordie’s youngest son and himself a Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman and longtime scout, fondly remembers Gretzky asking his father to join him during his approach of the old record in March 1994 and knows his parents would be fully supportive of Ovechkin if they were still alive. That was another message to Ovechkin, who Howe has made a point to talk to in person instead of simply recording congratulatory video messages.

“I said, ‘If Gordie and (his wife) Colleen were here, they’d be supporting you 100%,’ and there’s zero doubt of that,” Howe said. “I said: ‘The Howe family, we’re pulling for you. We’re rooting for you.’”

Gretzky is openly rooting for Ovechkin to break his record, something that would take 95 more goals for the best scorer of this generation who is 37 and producing at a clip never seen by a player this age. Ovechkin has three more years left on the contract he signed in 2021 with an eye on Gretzky’s mark. At his pace this season, he would surpass 50 goals and put him 60 or so away from the record.

Another 50-goal season would be Ovechkin’s 10th, passing Gretzky in that department. Mark Howe is not betting against Ovechkin getting to 895.

“It’s his health and it’s his passion for the game,” Howe said. “As long as he has passion and he’s out there battling, competing, he’s going to score his share of goals. And whether it takes two years, three years, four – whatever it takes – but as long as he still has a love and a passion for the game, yeah, then that record will get broke.”

Howe’s mark, which stood for 14 years from the when he retired in 1980 at age 52, is another stepping stone for Ovechkin, who has passed Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull and Jaromir Jagr to move into third place. Ovechkin already owns records for the most goals scored on the road and the power play and with the same franchise.

MAN ARRESTED: A man was arrested after allegedly biting off the fingertip of another fan during a fight at Friday’s game between the Bruins and Coyotes.

The fight between six fans broke out around 9:30 p.m. at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona, as the Boston Bruins played the Arizona Coyotes, the Arizona Republic reported, citing Arizona State University Police. In a short video posted on Twitter, a group is seen throwing punches and shoving each other before police arrive. At one point, multiple people fall in the stands, tumbling into other rows. A police officer who jumps into the fray also takes a spill into another row. Several other officers then emerge and pull the combatants off of each other.

Nashaknik Allen Shontz was identified as the biter and charged with aggravated assault, according to the Arizona Republic. The others were each given citations for disorderly contact. Steven Rocha, who had an index fingertip bitten off, was taken to a local hospital, according to the report.

PENGUINS: Pittsburgh has placed defenseman Jeff Petry on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury and Coach Mike Sullivan said the team expects Petry to be out for an extended period.

Forward Jason Zucker briefly left a 2-1 win over Dallas on Monday night in the second period after blocking a shot. He returned to play in the third period but was described as “week to week” by Sullivan.