Was NY Islanders legend Mike Bossy a greater goal scorer than Ovechkin or Gretzky?

Washington Capitals forward, Alexander Ovechkin, will break Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record, a record once thought unbreakable. After scoring a third-period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night, Ovechkin is two goals away from tying 'The Great One' and three from surpassing him. The two are following an almost identical pace. Ovechkin scored 892 goals in 1485 games, and Gretzky scored 894 in 1,487. That's a pretty amazing stat.

The record could fall on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena against the New York Islanders.

However, even after Ovechkin is atop the all-time goals list, there's an argument to be made that Islanders legend Mike Bossy, and not Gretzky or Ovechkin, is the greatest goal scorer of all-time.

Was NY Islanders legend Mike Bossy a greater goal scorer than Ovechkin or Gretzky?

Bossy is widely considered the purest goal scorer of his generation and holds the highest goals-per-game average in NHL history, an astonishing 0.762 goals per game. That's considerably higher than Gretzky (0.601 GPG) and Ovechkin (0.613 GPG). Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemiuex is second all-time with a goals per game average of 0.754. Cy Denneny (0.751 G/GP), the fastest player ever to reach 200 goals, who played in the early 1900s, also comes close.

Bossy started his career with a record nine consecutive 50-goal seasons (Gretzky is the only other to have 50 goals in nine seasons) and scored over 60 goals in five seasons. His 573 goals came in only 752 games before he elected to walk away from the game at age 30 because of a back injury. Bossy, who held himself to the highest standards, couldn't continue playing, knowing he wouldn't be at his best. He scored 38 goals in 63 games during the 1987-88 season, his last in the NHL.

Ovechkin, Gretzky, and 21 others may have more goals than Bossy (24th all-time), but no one scored as many goals at the rate of Bossy, and it's likely that no one ever will. He had the quickest, most accurate release in the game and a hockey IQ that allowed him to score from anywhere on the ice at any time. “Like Mario Lemieux, if Mike’s career wasn’t cut short, the numbers would be hard to fathom,” teammate and fellow Hall-of-Famer Bryan Trottier said.

The numbers, as they are, are hard to fathom. There's something to say about longevity. Being able to do what Ovechkin has done for as long as he has has been incredible to watch. In a few days, he will deservedly be celebrated as scoring the most goals in NHL history, but that doesn't mean that the argument over who the greatest goal scorer was is not up for debate.