When Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record on Sunday afternoon, he checked off just half of what is likely on his season to-do list. The other half would be delivering another Stanley Cup to the Washington Capitals.
“Let’s keep it rolling, man,” Ovechkin said just seconds after being doused with beer by his teammates. “Yeah, five or six games left. And, [the chase] is over, finally. Now the real stuff is coming.”
Ovechkin’s focus on the final portion of the regular season was further backed up by some revelations that team owner Ted Leonsis made Monday afternoon. Leonsis, after traveling back from New York, spoke about his captain on 106.7 The Fan’s Grant & Danny.
“Alex was invited on some television shows and The Tonight Show in New York to build his brand, hype, and celebrate,” Leonsis said. “You know what he said? ‘I’m exhausted. I want to show respect to the coach and my teammates. I want to rest. I want to get ready for Thursday’s game and the sprint of the playoffs. I don’t want to have to fly back to New York and come back. Yeah, it might be good for me, but it’s time.’ And that’s what you want from your captain.”
Ted’s answer came when he was asked about any special plans the Capitals had to celebrate Ovechkin when he returns for his first games at Capital One Arena since breaking the record. The Caps have just two home games remaining before the playoffs begin, one against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and another against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
“Alex knows how much we value him,” Leonsis said. “And, you know, we don’t want him thinking about anything right now other than, ‘I accomplished and broke a record that was never going to be broken.’ But that’s in the rearview mirror for the time being. Now, it’s five games left in the season, and then the playoffs.
“And how the playoffs are, you know, last year we didn’t have a very good playoff. We qualified for the playoffs the last hour, the last moment we could, last play of the season. And Alex didn’t have a great playoffs. And the criticism was high. And so he understands, we all understand, that we’re in this to win – let’s get all of the focus on that. The fans, though, I’m sure will show their undying appreciation. But, you know, there’s more games this year, and hopefully, all of next season. So there’ll come a time when we can really show him how much we love him. But it’s not tomorrow.”
The Capitals were swept out of the playoffs by the New York Rangers in the first round last year. Ovechkin went without a point in four games, the first playoff series of his career where he didn’t score at least one goal.
This year’s Caps team is in a completely different position, sitting first in the Eastern Conference by nine points. They’ll likely play the second wild card playoff team in the East instead of being that team.
“No more [record] questions, no more that stuff,” Ovechkin told Al Koken on Sunday. “It’s a relief, and now it’s time to concentrate on the playoffs.”
The Capitals have five games remaining, all against fellow Metropolitan Division teams, before the start of the first round. With some of the pressure now off the team, the hope is that they’ll be able to improve on their inconsistent 5-4-1 record over their past 10 games and go into the postseason with positive momentum.
