ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- Wayne Gretzky was so able to control hockey games from behind the net that the area became known as "Gretzky's office," as he put up more assists than anyone else in NHL history has points.

Alex Ovechkin has scored so many goals with his patented one-timer from the left faceoff circle on the power play that it became known as his spot. Retired goaltender Eddie Lack referred to it as the "Ovizoid."

Just like with Gretzky, whose record of 894 goals he is closing in on breaking, Ovechkin's brilliance comes not from one shot but rather the variety with which he has scored over his two-decadelong career. He has the most career power-play goals and the most empty-netters and soon will pass Gretzky for tops on the overall list thanks to an evolution of his game that has seen him score from more places on the ice in his 20th season than previous years.

"Everyone talks about his spot, but he scores goals from everywhere," said St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery, who played against Gretzky in North America and then briefly faced a young Ovechkin in Russia. "The true test to his intelligence and creativity is the fact that he's done it for so many years as the league has continued to change."

According to NHL Edge puck and player tracking data, Ovechkin has put a shot on net from 15 of the 16 quadrants in the offensive zone and scored from 11 of them.

That is a testament to Ovechkin, now 39 and scoring at a rate almost never seen at this age, adjusting to how opponents defend him and fooling goaltenders in different ways. He has scored on a league-record 181 goalies, adding six new ones to that list this season.

"He shoots hard, he can shoot through you, so it makes it more difficult, especially when it's coming from a bunch of different angles," said Logan Thompson, in his first season as a teammate of Ovechkin's with the Washington Capitals after being the 160th netminder he beat along the way. "He's always finding a way to get it through and he makes it really tricky on goalies. There's really no method on how to stop him."

For the defenders tasked with trying to contain Ovechkin, the approach changes with the situation. From his spot, everyone knows what is coming because he has scored 320 times on the power play -- 46 more than the next closest.

At even strength, where Ovechkin has scored 495 of his 884 goals and counting, the challenge is keeping an eye on him knowing he has what Blues goalie Jordan Binnington called an "onoff release" and can fling the puck at the net unexpectedly at times.

"I'm not really sure where he shoots it from, and it just finds a way to go in the net," said Ottawa defenseman Nick Jensen, who played parts of six seasons with Ovechkin on the Capitals. "He's been doing it for so long that I can't really explain it. It's kind of a phenomenon a little bit -- or an anomaly. But he's been doing it for so long, and he continues to do this year."

Ovechkin reached the 30goal mark again this season, the record 19th time he has done that, one of the biggest reasons the Capitals are among the top teams in the league. He has thrived alongside 20-something linemates Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas, who have embraced the role of getting Ovechkin the puck as much as reasonably possible.