"Obviously, he's a star, he's a legend over here and the whole League, so it's nice to tie it and still a long way to go," Ovechkin said.
Ovechkin scored his 708th NHL goal
28 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 win
in Washington's ninth game of the season. The 35-year-old has played 1,157 regular-season games in 16 seasons with the Capitals.
It was Ovechkin's first game since Jan. 19; he missed four because of NHL COVID-19 protocols.
"First of all, it's great to have him back, and we all know what he's capable of," Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said. "Situations like that, he's a game-changer. I think we all saw that in the overtime there. Situations like that, he just loves to step up. It was great to have him back."
It was Ovechkin's 111th game-winning goal, which broke a tie with Brett Hull for fourth in NHL history. His 24th overtime goal extended his NHL record.
Gartner scored 708 goals in 1,432 regular-season games in 19 NHL seasons, including 397 goals in 10 seasons with the Capitals, before retiring in 1998.
Phil Esposito is sixth with 717 goals in 1,282 regular-season games in 18 NHL seasons. He retired in 1981.
Ovechkin scored No. 707 in the first period of a 4-3 shootout loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 17, Washington's third game.
Last season, Ovechkin led the NHL with 48 goals, tied with David Pastrnak of the Bruins, and passed Luc Robitaille (668), Teemu Selanne (684), Mario Lemieux (690), Steve Yzerman (692) and Mark Messier (694) to climb from 13th to eighth on the NHL goals list.
Ovechkin scored his 700th NHL goal against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 22, 2020, joining Gartner, Esposito, Marcel Dionne (731), Hull (741), Jaromir Jagr (766) Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894).
Ovechkin trails Jagr (135), Howe (121) and Esposito (118) in game-winning goals, and leads Jagr by five overtime goals.
"He's had an unbelievable career," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's the way he shoots the puck. The overtime goal is a perfect example. It's just got momentum behind it and the way he slings it in there. That wasn't one of his heavy one-timers, he got some speed behind it. He just let it rip. He's done it his whole career. I've watched it from afar and it's nice to be a part of it. For him to come out of the 10 days and play a game the way he did, I thought that that was a real bonus for our team."