April 6 vs. New York Islanders at UBS Arena
Time: 12:30 p.m.
TV: MNMT, TNT, truTV, MAX
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (49-18-9)
New York Islanders (33-32-10)
On Sunday on Long Island, in the 21st anniversary of the day the Capitals won the draft lottery and the rights to draft him, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin takes aim at one of the NHL’s most hallowed marks, the all-time goals record held by Wayne Gretzky (894) for the last 31 years.
Friday night in DC, in front of a buzzing and anticipatory crowd that was hungry for history, Ovechkin delivered. He scored two goals in a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks – goals 893 and 894 of his own remarkable career – to pull even with Gretzky.
“It is a relief, obviously,” says Ovechkin. “I talked to my family [Thursday], and my father-in-law asked, ‘How do you keep your energy, your mind?’
“And I just said, ‘I just enjoy it.’ Because it’s a huge opportunity, it’s history, it’s lots of attention, friends love it, you guys love it. And it’s great for the city and it’s great for hockey. You can turn on any sports channel, and we’re talking about a hockey game. We’re talking about Wayne Gretzky, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe.
“And I think for kids and for a whole generation, it’s huge. And lots of stuff in Russia right now, but we’re talking about only hockey as well. So it’s great, and how I said, I’m very happy to be in this spot. I’m always going to be very grateful for and thankful to Wayne, how he supported me, how he gave me advice to be patient, and don’t put yourself in a stress position.
“I’m happy right now. I don’t know what my feelings are going to be like tomorrow, but right now I’m happy. And how I said, my wife is here, my mom, my father-in-law, kids. And for the future, my kids are going to remember this, and it’s going to be on TV. It’s not going nowhere. I’m very happy that we did it in Washington, on a homestand, and yeah, we’re just going to continue.”
Ovechkin’s run to the record has him on an epic heater, both in the short and longer term. He has scored five goals in his last four games to push his total to 894, and since digging himself out of one of the deepest goal-scoring ruts of his career – he started the 2023-24 season with just eight goals in his first 43 games – he has netted a remarkable 64 goals in just 96 games, a rate of .667 goals per game, previously unheard of at his age of 39.
His long-term spree of 64 goals in 96 games dates back to Jan. 27 of last year, and only Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (71) has more goals across that span. But Draisaitl has skated in a dozen more games than Ovechkin over that stretch; the Oilers’ center’s rate of .657 goals per game is a shade lower than that of the Caps’ captain.
“He’s just one of those athletes in all-time that can find ways to shoot the puck in the back of the net, find ways to get to good areas,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “Maybe – in another lifetime – there will be another player that comes along like him. But he’s the greatest goal scorer of all time. I’ve found myself [thinking], ‘How did he do that? How did he score again tonight?’ And he just continues to do it at 39 years old. It’s remarkable.
“You can feel it, and I feel it being around him every day; he is possessed to break this record, and now he’s on a mission. And the amount of goals he is scoring lately, you can feel it. People in the building feel it, and I can feel it on the bench; when he gets into a spot, he is determined to score. And he just continues to get himself into good spots at 39. You can’t wrap your head around this stuff, of what he’s accomplished in his career long-term, but also what he’s doing at the end here, it’s amazing.”
Ovechkin’s two-goal effort on Friday came 7,122 days after he began his pursuit of Gretzky with a two-goal game against Columbus in the very same building, on Oct. 5, 2005. Some of us were there both nights, and for so many memorable ones in between as well.
“It was a wonderful night, because both teams played hard,” said Gretzky after the game. “I’m so impressed by what the Washington Capitals have done over the last year, and the record they have. And people don’t realize this – because I went through what Alex is going through – it’s hard on your teammates, too. It’s joyful and it’s exciting, but they feel the pressure and the stress, and they have to answer all of the questions also.
“So, my hat goes off to the entire organization. I’m so proud of the fact that Washington has become such a great hockey city, and Alex is obviously a huge part of that. More importantly, their team is winning now. And it’s icing on the cake that when he breaks the record, I’m so proud of the fact that my wife Janet and I are going to be here like Colleen and Gordie Howe were when I broke his record. And that’s’ what our game is all about.”
Anyone in attendance at Capital One Arena on Friday night will never forget what they felt and what they witnessed as the night wore on; it was a top moment not only in the Washington Capitals’ 50-year history, but also a shining moment in the history of DC sports and in the history of the NHL.
It’s difficult to imagine anything topping Friday night’s scene, but we’ve still got one Ovechkin goal to go to before he is alone at the top of the peak.
Sunday’s game against the islanders is the first of six remaining games for the Caps in the 2024-25 regular season.
For the Islanders, Sunday’s game is massive. Heading into Saturday’s slate of NHL activity, the Isles are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings, five points south of the playoff cutline with seven games remaining.
Thanks to a recent six-game skid, New York’s playoff hopes have been dimming by the day for a couple weeks now, and even if the Isles were to run the table and win all seven of their remaining games, they’d finish with 90 points. That’s one fewer than Washington had when it slipped into the second wild card berth into the final minutes of the final regular season game last season.
Most recently, the Isles halted their six-game slide (0-4-2) with a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on the Island Friday night. The Isles finish up a three-game homestand Sunday against the Caps.
