Alex Ovechkin scores his 900th NHL goal with the Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON (AP) — The NHL now has a 900-goal club.

Charter member: Alex Ovechkin, of course.

The Washington star pushed his record total to a new level on Wednesday night, scoring against the St. Louis Blues to reach 900. The milestone came 2:39 into the second period.

Ovechkin was lurking in the offensive zone and was at the bottom of the right circle when he backhanded Jakob Chychrun’s rebound past a sliding Jordan Binnington, who wasn’t able to recover in time. The bench cleared to celebrate the 40-year-old’s accomplishment.

After breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career record with his 895th goal in April, Ovechkin entered this season needing three more to reach 900. After four games without one, the 40-year-old Russian ended that drought in the third period against Minnesota on Oct. 17 .