In the midst of what would otherwise be an unremarkable late-season game against the last-place Chicago Blackhawks, the Washington Capitals were all well aware of the main storyline of Friday night’s match – Ovechkin sitting three goals shy of breaking the record.
A hat trick at home against a Chicago team struggling massively isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Just before 3:52 into the first period, Ovechkin seriously looked like he was going to make it happen, too. Taking a pass from behind the net from Dylan Strome, Ovi sniped the top corner over Blackhawks’ goalie Spencer Knight, giving the Caps an early 1-0 lead, and bringing himself to within a single tally of The Great One’s record.
I texted Sammi a short time later and remarked how it would be funny to see Ryan Leonard get his first NHL goal tonight but no one would remember it because Ovechkin scored three to take the record.
Perhaps fortunately for Leonard, only one of those things happened. And perhaps unfortunately for the home crowd, the record-breaker will have to wait for another game (although they did witness him tie it…so no one left empty-handed).
At the end of the night, Washington walked away with a 5-3 victory courtesy of those two tallies by the Great Eight, as well as Leonard’s first, and an additional goals by Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary. And those two points are what matters most in the end.
That’s not to say Chicago made it easy by any means. Later in the first after Ovechkin’s 893rd, Tyler Bertuzzi tied it up for Chicago, and Frank Nazar gave them an early second-period lead after a Capitals’ defensive breakdown. Even after Fehrevary tied it a few minutes later, the Blackhawks managed to immediately take the lead back (I mean that literally. It was ten seconds later). For a while, it looked like Chicago was going to successfully spoil the night.
But, in the third period, right from his spot, a place where he has scored roughly a quarter of his 894 goals, Alex Ovechkin matched Wayne Gretzky with a shot beating Spencer Knight on the power play.
An incredible moment in @Capitals history shared by the best duo in hockey.
— Monumental Sports Network (@MonSportsNet) April 5, 2025
👂 Listen in to @JoeBpXp & @Laughlin18 for @ovi8's record tying goal from the MNMT broadcast booth.
#Gr8Chase by @Venture_Global | #ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/V3ZvLlKdxL
Cue the excitement and fanfare. And cue up the ovation from the Caps’ faithful, who came out last night to hopefully see history.
After a long ovation from the crowd and Slapshot flipped the counter to 894, on we played, hoping to see that ...
