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Oklahoma coach Brent Venables wasn’t worried about all the pomp and pageantry, ebbs and flows, big plays and fried, well, everything, in this year’s Red River Rivalry. Instead, he told his team to “embrace the chaos.”

Chaos was everywhere Saturday.

Quinn Ewers threw picks on two of his first six passes, then completed 19 straight.

Oklahoma’s special teams unraveled in spectacular fashion.

The Sooners’ defensive front engineered havoc at the line of scrimmage.

Dillon Gabriel threw for 285 yards, ran for 113 and looked as much a magician as a quarterback.

There were seven lead changes and three ties.

And in the most chaotic moment, when Texas grabbed a lead on a 47-yard field goal with 1:17 to play, Venables’ team was cool as a cucumber. (Albeit a fried cucumber covered in chocolate and powdered sugar, we assume.)

It was the type of game where, when it’s over, you just want to drive the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile out into the middle of the desert, play the bongos naked and ponder whether time is a human construct or simply the nature of a simulated universe that we’re all living in. Or, you know, whatever Matthew McConaughey has planned for the rest of the night.

Gabriel took his team 75 yards on five plays in just 1:02, dodging pressure in his face on one last heave into the back of the end zone to Nic Anderson for a game-winning touchdown in an absolutely epic send-off to the Big 12 — or was it an early welcome to the SEC? — at the Cotton Bowl.

A year ago, Oklahoma was annihilated, embarrassed and overwhelmed in a 49-0 loss to Texas.

On Saturday, the Sooners moved to 6-0 on the season, and delivered a devastating blow to Texas’ immense hopes for 2023.

Here’s the part where we make the joke about Texas disappointing again. You know the drill. Nearly every year, we all get excited that Texas is back, even if, in the back of our minds, we’re certain that return to the national conversation will be short-lived.

Every year we embrace its return out of some sense of loyalty or nostalgia, eager to recall a simpler time, only to spend some sad October Saturday doubled over in pain, sobbing and begging God’s forgiveness for dedicating ourselves to this wretched abomination of disparate parts that was never intended to be consumed by the masses.

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Dillon Gabriel shines as Oklahoma picks up thrilling win over Texas

After Texas takes the lead late, Dillon Gabriel comes up huge on the final drive, giving Oklahoma the Red River Rivalry win.

Basically, Texas is the McRib of college football.

And yet, that doesn’t feel right this time around. This wasn’t the usual embarrassment of losing to Kansas or blowing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead or texting a disgraced Ohio State assistant “OK, cool. Hook ’em” or “Horns Down” chants or pet monkeys hell-bent on attacking innocent trick-or-treaters. This was a loss, but somehow felt like a step forward — a game in which Texas proved worthy of the hype, just a little less explosive than the Sooners.

On the Crimson side of the Cotton Bowl, Oklahoma had its own share of questions to answer. Venables took over a program that, if it wasn’t at the true precipice of college football’s elite, it was certainly close. Then the Sooners went 6-7 in Year 1, Gabriel missed his first Red River game and the whispers of the Sooners’ step backwards as they prepared for a 2024 move to the SEC grew from whispers to a low grumble.

But this year was going well. Oklahoma won its first five games, all by at least two touchdowns, but all against entirely pedestrian competition. Saturday was a true test, one filled with emotion and pressure and, yes, chaos.

Well, Venables eats chaos for breakfast. (Also, Cookie Crisp.)

There’s a script where Texas won Saturday, where Oklahoma’s missteps on special teams and Ewers’ late heroics coalesced into a dramatic victory in which the masses really would’ve argued, preached, believed that Texas was, indeed, back.

There’s another script, though, where those special teams struggles never materialized, where Oklahoma cashed in with a TD on that long drive before the half, where all the things that went against them went the other way and it was a Sooners blowout.

Neither ended up true, and that’s good, because this game was the type of chaos this season needed.

Texas needed to take a punch — maybe five or six — and show it was tough enough to keep getting off the mat. It did, even in a losing effort.

Oklahoma needed to make a few mistakes to show that this team had grown from the immature, inconsistent, unreliable group that lost seven games a year ago. Indeed, the Sooners showed they had not just grown, but had internalized those tough lessons and emerged as something more than just talented or experienced or, well, good.

They’re survivors, and chaos feels just like home for a team like that.


Canes endure epic collapse

You might’ve figured at kickoff nothing could get uglier than the Hurricanes’ uniforms, which looked like someone spilled a few shades of off-brand Mountain Dew flavors onto black jerseys, but you’d have been wrong.

Things got much, much, much uglier for Miami.

It was bad enough that the Canes’ offense flubbed its way through three quarters of football, with QB Tyler Van Dyke being picked off three times, including once in the end zone, which was part of five total turnovers in the game for the Hurricanes.

Still, Miami’s stout D kept things close — Georgia Tech had just 61 yards in the first half — and a Henry Parrish TD run and a 39-yard field goal put the Canes up 20-17 late in the fourth quarter.

That’s how it should’ve ended.

Miami ran more than five minutes off the clock, with 10 plays and 52 yards down to the Georgia Tech 30 with just over 30 seconds to play. All the Hurricanes had to do was take a knee.

Instead, they handed off the ball to Don Chaney Jr., who promptly fumbled. Georgia Tech recovered at its own 26 — but still trailed by 3 with just 25 seconds left.

That’s how it should’ve ended, too. But it didn’t.

Miami had Haynes King backed up on a second-and-10, a last-chance heave all that was left in the Yellow Jackets’ playbook. And King said afterward he knew the heave was going for six as soon as it left his hand.

His throw went over the top of the Miami D — how? Please, Miami, explain how this happens? — and found Christian Leary, who finished off a 44-yard completion with a game-winning touchdown.

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Miami’s coaching blunder leads to epic Georgia Tech comeback

Miami’s choice to run the ball leads to a crucial fumble, which Georgia Tech recovers and later completes the miracle comeback.

Saturday marked the 108th anniversary of Georgia Tech’s 222-0 win over Cumberland, which stands as, technically, the worst loss in college football history. But that game had nothing on what the Yellow Jackets delivered in Miami Gardens on Saturday night. They didn’t win by 222, but this was so, so, so much more painful.

How bad was it?

Pitbull has been downgraded from Mr. Worldwide to Mr. Corner of 36th and South near the IHOP.

Traffic on A1A in South Beach is just a bunch of Chevy Cavaliers.

The pool at The Clevelander had to be evacuated because of a bathroom incident.

There are losses. There are bad losses. There are losses that haunt a coach on his deathbed. And then about 100 miles past that is how Miami lost Saturday.


Bama’s back, baby

Alabama‘s offense wasn’t exactly clicking on all cylinders on Saturday against Texas A&M, but the Crimson Tide clearly have their QB.

Jalen Milroe threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns as Alabama dumped the Aggies 26-20. Since being benched against USF in Week 3, Milroe is completing 73% of his passes, averaging 10.8 yards per pass, with six touchdowns and two turnovers.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is, Alabama couldn’t run the ball at all. No, seriously, the Tide had minus-13 yards rushing in the first half. Nick Saban ran for more yards than his offense did before the break. By game’s end, Alabama had upped its output to a whopping 23 yards, which marked the third-lowest total of Saban’s tenure in Tuscaloosa, with both previous instances coming against LSU (2007 and 2021).

Still, it was enough to carry the Tide past an Aggies team that struggled in the red zone, settling for chip-shot field goals in the first quarter and in a late comeback attempt in the fourth.

A&M’s veteran QB Max Johnson, who missed his kids’ JV soccer game for this, completed 14 of 25 passes but threw a costly interception and was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety. In his 27th year of college football, those were frustrating mistakes, but in fairness, it’s hard to play football with so many sets of keys in your cargo shorts, and he did remind all of his teammates to use the bathroom before getting on the bus after the game, which was helpful.


Buffs back in win column

Colorado picked up win No. 4 on the season Saturday night, officially surpassing their preseason Vegas total.

Regardless, the Buffaloes nearly blew a late 24-17 lead as Arizona State‘s Trenton Bourguet engineered a 13-play, 94-yard drive to tie the game with a touchdown with just 50 seconds left to play. But this is Colorado in 2023, and there’s always a bit more drama in store.

Shedeur Sanders completed his next pass for 43 yards to set up the game-winning field goal.

After the game, Coach Prime donned an oversized sombrero and Groucho Marx glasses for his on-field interview, said he was furious with several innocuous quotes from Kenny Dillingham, ranked all five of his sons plus every other relative dating back six generations and inked his entire team to a new NIL deal with NASA, whereby each team gets its own rocket ship.


Cards, ACC keep rolling

Break up the ACC! Wait, no, don’t break it up. Forget what we said, FSU board of trustees. It’s just a figure of speech.

Let’s rephrase: How about the ACC?

Six weeks into the season, a league that spent much of the summer fending off rumors of its demise now has a reasonable claim as the country’s best, with three teams still undefeated, including Louisville, which pulled off a stunner against Notre Dame on Saturday.

Jawhar Jordan ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns, Jamari Thrash hauled in eight catches, including a TD, and the Louisville defense continued to haunt the dreams of Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman, who was picked off three times in the Cardinals’ 33-20 win. Louisville is now 6-0 in Jeff Brohm’s first season as head coach, and with a manageable schedule the rest of the way, can rightly clam dark horse status in the playoff race.

Louisville also snapped Notre Dame’s 30-game regular-season winning streak against the ACC, which dated back to 2017 — which might have left the conference without something to be incredibly embarrassed by, but thankfully Miami stepped up to fill that void.

Meanwhile, Florida State kept chugging along in Week 6, thumping Virginia Tech 39-17, finally getting its ground game going behind Trey Benson, who ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

And in Chapel Hill, Tez Walker finally saw the field after the NCAA realized that every decision it’s ever made is wrong, and he helped spark a brilliant performance from QB Drake Maye, who threw for 442 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-7 win over the Syracuse Orange.

Maye had no trouble with Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone — ah, we mean Rocky Long’s 3-3-5 — completing passes to 11 different players.

Mack Brown, the country’s oldest head coach, is now 5-0, continuing a terrific 2023 for the Boomer generation, along with “The Golden Bachelor” and Lou Holtz living rent free in Ryan Day’s head (though, admittedly, also overpaying for a condo in Boca). Next up for North Carolina is the undefeated Miami Hurric– oh, no. Oh, we’re now being told to temper the ACC excitement as Miami is proving why the league is not allowed to have nice things.


Bowers keys Dawgs’ dominance

Well, all that talk about whether Georgia had another gear can be relegated to the list of “things that happened in September we’ll completely deny moving forward,” alongside the Cubs playoff chase, all Taylor Swift/NFL commentary and that alien corpse in Mexico that might or might not have been made from cake.

In what was billed as a battle between undefeated SEC teams, the Bulldogs looked the part and Kentucky looked utterly overwhelmed. Carson Beck threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns, Brock Bowers had seven catches for 132 yards, and Georgia’s D held Kentucky’s explosive run game to 55 yards in the 51-13 win — the Bulldogs’ first point-spread cover of the season.

But there is still one serious concern for Georgia.

This is entirely believable. Has Kirby Smart nodded his head like yeah when “Party in the USA” plays during a TV timeout at Sanford Stadium? Sure. But does he understand the context of any of that? Absolutely not. The man has more important things to do. Though, we’re willing to wager he has Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Some Gave All” on cassette in his truck right now.


LSU wins a shootout

Jayden Daniels ran for 134 yards and a touchdown, threw for more than 12 yards per pass and three more TDs, and LSU still had to sweat out its Week 6 game vs. Missouri.

Such is life with the SEC’s most exasperating defense.

A week after LSU allowed Ole Miss to circumnavigate the globe on offense, the Tigers looked nearly as inept against Brady Cook and the, um, other Tigers.

Cook threw for 411 yards — including 149 to Luther Burden III — and Missouri led 22-10 at one point, but Cook’s streak of 365 straight pass attempts without an interception was snapped on a ridiculously athletic grab by Harold Perkins Jr. in the second quarter. Cook also threw a pick-six at the game’s end, and Perkins later foiled Lex Luthor’s scheme to rob Fort Knox.

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Harold Perkins Jr. leaps up and picks off Brady Cook for an LSU INT

Brady Cook’s SEC-record 366 pass attempts without an interception comes to an end at the hands of LSU’s Harold Perkins Jr.

If you’re counting — and, frankly, we hope you have access to a quantum computer if you are — LSU has allowed 94 points and 1,233 yards in its past two games. Of course, it has also accounted for 98 points and 1,170 yards of offense.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, LSU games have now gone over the betting point total 10 straight times and, according to Gov. Kim Reynolds, all Bayou Bengals games will come with an explicit content warning when shown in Iowa.


Where’s _hi_ State’s O?

If Week 5 was the moment we were all forced to ask whether Georgia was the elite team we’d come to expect in 2023, Week 6 raised the same questions about Ohio State.

Yes, the Buckeyes ultimately cruised past Maryland 37-17 by scoring the game’s final 27 points, but with TreVeyon Henderson out and the run game scuffling, there were more than a few moments Saturday when Ohio State’s offense, which looked as explosive as any in the country on paper, appeared woefully short of weapons.

Of course, one of those weapons was Marvin Harrison Jr., which is like saying you’re short on cash aside from that trillion-dollar bill in your back pocket.

For the game, Ohio State averaged 1.9 yards per rush. (That’s bad.)

Harrison, on the other hand, averaged 20.4 yards per catch. (That’s good.)

Kyle McCord targeted Harrison 15 times — more than half of his 29 throws — for eight catches and 163 yards. The rest of the offense, total, managed just 219 yards on 47 plays.

It’s entirely possible we’ve yet to see anything close to the full artillery at Ohio State. Henderson’s health matters, and the ground game will have better days. It may be Ohio vs. the world, but it certainly doesn’t have to be Harrison doing all the fighting.

But in this year’s Big Ten, there’s not much margin for error, and Ohio State’s offense — 23 points vs. woeful Indiana, 17 vs. a strong Notre Dame — needs to find a new gear if it’s going to survive the remainder of a season that still features dates with Penn State, at Wisconsin and at the Big House.


Under-the-radar game of the week

The Rhode Island Governor’s Cup was on the line Saturday, as URI faced off against Brown.

Now, you might ask how it’s possible to play a football game in a state that’s only 94 yards wide. Luckily, kickoff was at low tide.

The two teams traded scores well into the third quarter, highlighted by a 50-yard receiving TD by the Rams’ Kahtero Summers and a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Rhode Island’s Randy Jordan.

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Rhode Island returns kick 95 yards to the house

Randy Jordan returns the kickoff 95 yards for a URI touchdown, giving Rhode Island the lead.

Brown kept hanging around, however, and was driving into URI territory with under a minute to play, but Jake Willcox threw his second interception of the day to seal Rhode Island’s win and secure the Governor’s Cup, which, of course, is just a bowl of chowder.


Under-the-radar play of the week

We like to celebrate when big guys do something ridiculously athletic, and what happened at the end of Eastern Michigan‘s 24-10 win over Ball State wasn’t exactly that. But it was entertaining.

On fourth-and-21, Ball State’s QB Layne Hatcher completed a pass to Marquez Cooper, who was immediately thumped by EMU’s Bennett Walker and coughed up the catch. The ball bounced straight out of Cooper’s grasp and flew backward, into the waiting hands of EMU’s 280-pound defensive lineman Tim Grant-Randall.

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The fumble recovery from Eastern Michigan is must see

On 4th-and-21, Ball State’s Marquez Cooper has the ball bounce out of his hands and into the grasp of Eastern Michigan’s Layne Hatcher for a wild fumble recovery.

Now, we’ll give credit to Grant-Randall for holding on to the football which, frankly, mostly caught him. But what we can’t abide is him coming to his senses after running 5 yards in the wrong direction. Grant-Randall, likely surprised to have the ball in his hands to begin with, stared ahead of him and saw nothing but green to the end zone. The wrong end zone, of course, but an end zone nonetheless. He was smart enough to quickly stop his momentum and hit the turf to effectively end the game, but we so much would’ve preferred he enthusiastically sprinted into Ball State’s end zone instead.

Somewhere, Jim Marshall is shaking his head, knowing how much better this could’ve been.


Rebels pull away late

Ole Miss scored the final 10 points of the game against Arkansas on Saturday to finish out a 27-20 win that keeps the Rebels in the mix in the SEC West.

Meanwhile, the Arkansas offense continued to struggle, leading to yet more complaints directed at offensive coordinator Dan Enos. Last week, Enos responded directly to many of his critics. This week, he’s asked we share an open letter with all Razorbacks fans instead.

Dear Hogs Nation,

Due to the incredibly large number of emails I’ve received, I’ve chosen to address you as a group rather than my usual approach of replying to each of you individually. Don’t agree with that decision? Well, tell me what you would’ve done? Nothing? That’s what I thought.

Anyway, I have become aware that many of you are dissatisfied with our offensive production once again. Perhaps you noticed that we only had 36 yards rushing and are angry about that. Well, that’s why I’m the playcaller. This was all part of my plan because running the football is boring. Do you really want to watch boring football? No. Of course not.

OK, I see a few of you are pointing out that we ran a QB sneak on third-and-goal from the 9. Well, what would you have done? Literally anything else? Hah! That’s not innovative, kids. That’s why I’m the OC here.

And I see one of you is having some trouble getting several million dollars in frozen assets out of Nigeria. Let me tell you something, sir. Your plan to use my social security number and checking account to extricate those millions, while sharing a reasonable fraction with me — that, sir, is innovative! I’m in. And when we get our hands on that cash, let’s go all-in on the crypto market. You with me?

OK, I’m going to watch some film now which is an important way to understand the subtle brilliance of all 288 yards we had on offense against Ole Miss. You people wouldn’t understand that nuance because you just watch in real time and assume getting sacked is bad.

I look forward to all of your apologies next week. But also I’ll be out of the office most of Sunday, so if you need me to educate you during that time, please call my cell.


Another Eagles escape

Just looking for a little drama on Saturday? Boston College games are basically one long episode of “Lost” — strange, inexplicable, poorly plotted but seriously enthralling.

Through six weeks, the Eagles are 3-3. All three wins, including Saturday’s 27-24 squeaker against Army, have come by three points. Two of the three losses have also come by a field goal or less.

Basically, the “C” in BC stands for “cardiologist.”

BC lost its opener in OT after storming back from a 21-7 deficit in the fourth quarter.

It took a top-five Florida State team to the wire, only to be stopped by a brutal late flag.

It nearly blew a 10-point lead against Holy Cross. It erased a 21-7 deficit against Virginia to win.

And Saturday, Thomas Castellanos‘ fourth touchdown run of the game gave BC another win, just moments after Army had seemed to put the game away with a long TD pass called back by a penalty.

Struggling Georgia Tech, UConn, Virginia Tech and Pitt are all left on the schedule, so BC certainly has a path toward a bowl game, if it can avoid quite so much drama moving forward. Or it can follow the “Lost” formula, drag things out to the final week against Miami, and then get eaten by a smoke monster.


On a win streak

Week 6 began with four winless teams.

It ends with just two.

Virginia topped William & Mary 27-13 behind 132 rushing yards from Perris Jones, while UConn upended Rice 38-31 on Saturday, giving each team Win No. 1 for 2023.

The Cavaliers had been oh-so-close before, losing by 1 to James Madison, 3 to NC State and 3 to Boston College, but they finally landed a finishing blow Saturday, providing yet another big win for Thomas Jefferson over the British monarchy.

UConn, meanwhile, had its own struggles in close games, but two long TD throws from Ta’Quan Roberson got the Huskies their first W of the year, and dealt Rice a loss so embarrassing JT Daniels will now transfer again.

Just two teams remain winless heading into Week 7: Nevada, which was off this week, and Sam Houston, which fell to 0-5 on Thursday with a 21-16 loss to Liberty.

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The Alex Ovechkin Eras: Eight spans that define the career of the Great 8

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The Alex Ovechkin Eras: Eight spans that define the career of the Great 8

The Capitals improved by 11 points in the standings in Ovechkin’s rookie season. He helped, but he couldn’t do it alone.

In 2008, Alex Ovechkin found himself onstage at a club in Falls Church, Virginia, pretending to play guitar and pumping his fist to the crowd of Capitals fans who were instructed to keep the energy up during filming.

This music video would be a perfect time capsule for the “Rock The Red” movement in Washington — in which the home stands would be a sea of red jerseys and shirts — and not just because Ovechkin’s rock star status went from figurative to literal. The Caps won the Southeast Division in 2007-08, returning to the playoffs after a three-season drought. Under head coach Bruce Boudreau, who took over after 21 games, they played an electric offensive game that catered to Ovechkin’s skills and created a renewed fan buzz.

On stage with Ovechkin were fellow members of “The Young Guns,” as the players would be known. Center Nicklas Backstrom would become a driving force behind Ovechkin’s goal-scoring domination. His biggest takeaway from playing alongside Ovechkin: “Probably explaining to him that he wasn’t always open, but he wanted the puck all the time anyway,” Backstrom said recently with a laugh.

Defenseman Mike Green, who was in the video, would pilot their power play and become a two-time Norris Trophy runner-up. Winger Alex Semin, Ovechkin’s young countryman, would become a 40-goal scorer. Beyond them were Brooks Laich, an essential “glue guy,” and, eventually, standout defensemen John Carlson and Karl Alzner.

But the music video was also demonstrative of the Capitals’ swagger, something else Ovechkin brought to the franchise. Washington lost in seven games to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, but it was clear they were pointed toward greater success. Something Sidney Crosby’s Penguins had already achieved.

After losing Rookie of the Year to Ovechkin, Crosby won his first NHL MVP trophy as a 19-year-old in 2006-07. By 2008, he was playing for the Stanley Cup, losing in the Final to Detroit. Like Ovechkin, he had some new friends, too: Malkin, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal.

Ovechkin did Crosby one better between 2007-09: He became the first skater to win back-to-back Hart Trophies since Wayne Gretzky in 1985-87. (Goalie Dominik Hasek won consecutive MVPs from 1996-98). It was clear he was a franchise player, and Leonsis gave him a contract commensurate with that status: In 2008, Ovechkin signed a 13-year, $124 million deal he negotiated himself. The first $100 million contract in NHL history, it had its critics at the time, although they’d fall silent years later when his $9 million cap hit was re-contextualized as a bargain as the salary cap rose.

In 2008-09, Ovechkin scored 56 goals in the regular season to lead Washington to another division title and then had seven points in seven games to win his first playoff series over the New York Rangers — setting up the first meeting between Crosby and Ovechkin in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Game 2 of that series would provide one of the defining moments of their rivalry: The “Double Hat Trick” game in Washington, as both Crosby and Ovechkin completed hat tricks in the Capitals’ 4-3 win. Fans threw so many hats on the ice after Ovechkin’s third goal that Crosby asked if the officials “could make an announcement to ask them to stop.”

Ovechkin (14 points) outscored Crosby (13) in that series, but the Penguins outlasted the Capitals in seven games — advancing to win the Stanley Cup, which would become a recurring theme in their rivalry. Ovechkin had a chance to turn Game 7 in Washington’s favor with a breakaway in the first three minutes of the first period but was robbed by Fleury.

It was a missed opportunity. The Capitals would miss more of them to a much greater degree in the next few seasons.

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The importance of the double hat-trick game between Crosby and Ovechkin

“The Drop” discuss Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin’s first playoff meeting and the importance of their double hat-trick game.


The Crisis Era (2009-14)
Goals scored: 203

Ovechkin was given the Capitals’ captaincy in Jan. 2010 after Chris Clark was traded to Columbus. He scored another 50 goals in 2009-10 and was driving a team that had pushed deeper into the playoffs than it had in any season since 1998. Washington finished that campaign with a .738 points percentage and captured their first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history — along with all the supernatural misfortune associated with being the league’s best regular-season team.

The Capitals faced the Montreal Canadiens, who ranked 16th out of 16 playoff teams in regular-season success. After dropping the opening game in overtime, Washington won three straight games. Then it happened: a combination of Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak with the Capitals’ sputtering offense and unmistakable jitters led the Canadiens to win the series in seven games. The Washington offensive machine was limited to one goal in each of the final three losses. Ovechkin didn’t have a goal in the final two.

This wasn’t just playoff disappointment for Ovechkin’s Capitals, but postseason regression. It sparked the first wave of conversations about Washington as a playoff underachiever and whether the Caps’ regular-season offensive wizardry could ever translate to Stanley Cup success. Despite respectable postseason numbers, Ovechkin wasn’t immune to that criticism either.

Things briefly looked up in 2010-11. The Capitals won their division for the fourth straight time and then beat the Rangers in five games in the opening round, where Ovechkin had six points. He had four points in four games in the next round, but playoff embarrassment was getting old for the “Young Guns”: The Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Caps out of the playoffs.

Skepticism about Washington being able to get over the hump due to their style of play had morphed into a full-on crisis of faith. They slumped after a hot start in 2011-12, with Ovechkin going through a stretch of one goal in eight games. Boudreau paid for that slump with his job, as Washington fired him in Nov. 2011 after 22 games (12-9-1). Ovechkin’s relationship with his former coach was scrutinized. Some labeled the Capitals star a “coach killer” in the wake of the popular Boudreau’s dismissal.

“It is complete nonsense that I would get Bruce fired,” Ovechkin said to Yahoo! Sports in 2011. “How is it on me? How can I, a player, get a coach fired? How can I quit playing for the coach who gave me so much in my career?”

The Capitals hired Dale Hunter, a franchise icon who had been a head coach in Canadian junior hockey, to replace Boudreau, with the explicit mandate to get Ovechkin and his teammates to defend to a championship standard. In other words: fewer pretty passes, more blocked shots.

Ovechkin saw his ice time drop to under 20 minutes per game for the first time. He called the season “a hard year, mentally” and his stats reflected that: Ovechkin had 65 points, a career low, although his goal-scoring rose from 32 to 38 year over year.

The Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round that season and then were eliminated by the Rangers in seven games in the second round. Ovechkin had four points against New York.

Hunter left the Capitals after the season to return to juniors. The Capitals hired New Jersey Devils assistant coach Adam Oates to take over. While Ovechkin led the league in goals in both of Oates’ seasons in Washington, the Capitals’ postseason misfortunes continued: losing to the Rangers in the first round in 2013, after a lockout-shortened season in which Ovechkin won his third MVP; and then missing the playoffs in 2013-14 for the first time since 2006-07, and only the third time in Ovechkin’s career, which led to both Oates and GM McPhee being fired.

Ovechkin was now the lightning rod for criticism about the Capitals’ lack of playoff success and diminishing returns. The criticism was carried to extremes, like when The Hockey News published an article in May 2014 titled “Alex Ovechkin to KHL would be a blessing in disguise for Capitals.”

All of it left Ovechkin baffled and frustrated. He actually clarified after the season that he was still having fun and wasn’t going to ask for a trade.

“If you remember when Hunter was here and I didn’t score goals, you guys said, ‘Why don’t you score goals?’ I said, ‘My job [is] to block shots’. The whole world says, ‘Ovi stop playing what he used to play, he’s gone. We [are] never going to see him again,'” he said after the 2013-14 season. “I don’t want to turn my back on this kind of position again. I get paid to score goals. I scored 50.”

Ovechkin scored 203 goals in this era. That was seven fewer in this span than Steven Stamkos, the new goal-scoring marvel in the NHL. But while Ovechkin had his struggles, he was still piling on the goals to his career total.

In 2010, ESPN’s John Buccigross was among the first to publicly suggest that Ovechkin might break Gretzky’s goals record. “This will take a lot of health, a lot of hockey love and a lot of luck. But it’s not far-fetched.”


The Frustration Era (2014-17)
Goals scored: 136

General manager Brian MacLellan hired former Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz to take over the Capitals for 2014-15. Other new faces had joined Washington in recent seasons, too, augmenting the core around Ovechkin: forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, defensemen Brooks Orpik and Dmitry Orlov and goaltender Braden Holtby. Soon, T.J. Oshie would arrive from the St. Louis Blues.

Trotz would have a critical relationship with Ovechkin, whose goal total rose back to 51 in Oates’ last season in Washington. Trotz was aware of Ovechkin’s reputation as a “coach killer” and accusations of selfish play. From their first meeting, Trotz got to know a player who liked being challenged and was summarily obsessed with winning the Stanley Cup.

MacLellan and Trotz agreed that surrounding Ovechkin with enough talent to ease his burden was the best move. Sometimes, that led to overcorrections — like when Ovechkin’s ice time dropped to 18:22 per game and his goals dropped to 33 in the 2016-17 season. But Trotz insisted it was to serve the ultimate goal.

Trotz got Ovechkin back to the playoffs in 2014-15, winning in seven against the New York Islanders before losing again to the Rangers in seven games. They were sixth in the NHL in offense and seventh in defense, after being 13th and 21st under Oates.

This started a run of three straight postseasons in which the Capitals had their run end in the second round. The next two instances had a common theme: Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

Ovechkin’s archrival had two assists in the Penguins’ six-game victory over the Capitals in 2016, a series where Ovechkin had seven points to lead the Capitals. Five of the six games were determined by one goal. Like they did in 2009, the Penguins vaulted over the Capitals and eventually won the Stanley Cup against San Jose.

The same thing would happen in 2017. The Capitals eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games to earn a rematch with Pittsburgh. This time, Crosby had seven points in six games and Fleury shut out the Capitals in Game 7 to eliminate Washington. Two rounds later, Crosby was hoisting the Cup after defeating Nashville.

Three Cup wins for Sid The Kid, each time at the expense of Ovechkin.

He was a nonfactor for much of it. Ovechkin criticized his own performance in Game 4. Trotz shifted his superstar winger to the third line against Pittsburgh in Game 5. In Games 6 and 7, Ovechkin didn’t register a point and was a minus-2 in the series finale.

As one veteran coach told ESPN at the time: “He just doesn’t have that body language that says, ‘I’m taking over.’ Normally, he’s like an assassin.”

The Capitals’ defeat in 2017 earned Washington the moniker of “saddest sports town” from the New York Times: “The issue is no longer whether the Capitals will ever win the Stanley Cup with Ovechkin and the immensely talented core around him. It’s whether this group can ever get past the playoffs’ second round.”


The Stanley Cup Era (2017-18)
Goals scored: 49

Alex Ovechkin was on stage again in front of Capitals fans. It was June 2018. His long beard hung over red party beads around his neck. On his head was something only previously attainable through photoshop edits: a hat with a Capitals logo and the words “Stanley Cup Champs.”

Ovechkin was giving a victory speech to a packed National Mall. “We’re not going to f—ing suck this year!” he bellowed. “We’re STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS. Yeaaaaaaaaah!”

All of those playoff disappointments. All of those harsh lessons learned. All of that criticism Ovechkin shouldered for his team, whether it was personally warranted or not. As he lifted and kissed the Stanley Cup — with his Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP beside him — the burdens he carried as a franchise savior and NHL superstar were lifted, too.

This is what catharsis looks like.

By this time, it was clear Ovechkin had a career that likely would put him in the Hall of Fame, with a goal total that was going to end up among the highest ever. Winning the Stanley Cup meant that there would be no caveats, no “but he never won a championship” detractions when it came to his hockey immortality.

The postseason was its own Eras Tour for Ovechkin’s Capitals. They defeated Columbus in the first round, coached by their old Rangers rival John Tortorella. Then came the third straight meeting with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. After losing Game 1, the Capitals rallied to take a 3-2 series lead. Ovechkin, who had seven points in the series, had the primary assist on Kuznetsov’s overtime goal in Game 6 that eliminated Pittsburgh and put Ovi in a conference championship round for the first time.

With those demons from Pittsburgh exorcised, the Capitals defeated another postseason tormentor in the Lightning in seven games, shutting them out in Games 6 and 7. (Somewhere, Dale Hunter smiles at defense winning championships.)

The Final Boss was Vegas, as the Golden Knights shocked the NHL by advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. That team’s architect? GM George McPhee, who drafted Ovechkin and surrounded him with the “Young Guns.” Their starting goalie? Marc-Andre Fleury, who had previously made Ovechkin’s postseason life miserable.

Washington won the Stanley Cup in five games. Ovechkin had five points in the series, including a goal in the clincher. He was finally a champion. Ovechkin ended the postseason with 15 goals in 24 games and won the Conn Smythe.

The Capitals did not, in fact, suck that year.


Elder Statesman Era (2018-23)
Goals scored: 215

This era is the greatest tribute to the transformative effect that winning the Stanley Cup had on Ovechkin.

Washington would lose in the first round in the next four seasons after skating the Cup, under head coaches Todd Reirden — who replaced Trotz when the coach had a contract dispute with the Capitals — and Peter Laviolette, who replaced Reirden in 2020. But the afterglow of the Cup was bright enough to obscure any disappointment. Ovechkin’s MVP performance — and his continued ascent up the all-time goal-scoring rankings — were a shield from any criticism.

Ovechkin led the NHL in goals in 2018-19 and 2019-20. In total, he won the Richard Trophy in seven of eight seasons from 2012-2020. He remained a dominant goal-scorer even as he aged into being one of the NHL’s elder statesmen, something emphasized by Ovechkin’s hair and beard having gone gray.

Another hallmark of Ovechkin’s maturity — and, more importantly, how winning the Cup unburdened him — was his burgeoning friendship with Crosby. The two would bond at the NHL All-Star Game, chatting during the skills competition, the old school watching the new school.

At the 2023 All-Star Game in South Florida, Crosby, 35, and Ovechkin, 37, was a dual-entry in the breakaway challenge trick-shot competition: skating in on a three-on-none with Ovechkin’s 4-year-old son, Sergei, who had watched the event with his father near the benches while wearing an “Ovi Jr.” jersey.

“Before we ever played a game against each other, there was a rivalry,” Crosby said at the time. “It was always set up that way. I think over time, you understand that it gets heated and intense on the ice. We both want to have success. But you appreciate you playing against each other for as long as it’s been.”

Off the ice, Ovechkin’s public statements courted controversy.

In 2017, Ovechkin announced that he was spearheading a social media campaign in support of Russian president Vladimir Putin that was called “Putin Team.” Ovechkin had been a vocal supporter of Putin before. “I never hid my relationship with our president, always openly supported him,” he said. “I’m certain that there are many of us that support Vladimir Putin. Let’s unite and show everyone a strong and united Russia.”

That support was put under a microscope in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. The NHL suspended its dealings with the KHL in March 2022. It also terminated its broadcast agreement with Russian television. Russia has been frozen out of the hockey world since its invasion of Ukraine. It was banned, along with Belarus, from international hockey tournaments by the International Ice Hockey Federation starting in 2022. That ban was extended last month through the 2025-26 season.

Ovechkin received backlash from fans who were angered by the invasion — he has a photo with the Russian president as his social media profile.

“He’s my president. But like I said, I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete,” he said. “I hope everything is going to be done soon. It’s a hard situation right now for both sides.”

Ultimately, Ovechkin’s statement on the matter was a plea for peace: “Please, no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries — we have to live in peace.”

This era was also defined by Ovechkin’s decision to remain in Washington. He signed a five-year, $47.5 million deal in July 2021 to potentially play out his career with the Capitals — including his pursuit of Gretzky’s record. At that point, he was sixth on the all-time list, with 730 goals.


The Catching Gretzky Era (2024-present)
Goals scored: 67 (and counting)

One condition Ovechkin put on the Capitals before signing his extension in 2021: He wanted to play for a contender, not a rebuilding team.

Leonsis promised that a rebuild wouldn’t happen. “To me, a rebuild is when you look the players, the coaches, the fans in the eye and say we’re gonna be really, really bad. And if we were really, really bad, I don’t think Alex would break the record,” the owner said.

In turn, Ovechkin promised Leonsis that he’d stay in shape and his eyes wouldn’t be fixated on breaking Gretzky’s record of 894 goals, but on bringing another Stanley Cup to Washington.

The Capitals missed the playoffs in 2022-23 and decided to change coaches. They hired 42-year-old Spencer Carbery, an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs who had history in the Capitals’ farm system. A candid speaker and a strong tactician, Carbery returned Washington to the playoffs as a wild card in 2023-2024 and has them threatening to win the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024-25.

Leonsis kept his promise to Ovechkin, as the Capitals smartly added talent around him in players like forwards Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goalie Logan Thompson. The prospect pipeline that had produced so many of Ovechkin’s teammates through the years gave him impact players in Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas. Considering how Crosby’s Penguins trended after their championship runs, the fact that the Capitals were a contender again was nothing short of remarkable.

Ovechkin scored 31 goals in 2023-24, but there was reasonable concern about whether he’d be able to catch Gretzky. He appeared to be slowing offensively, with an 11-goal and 10-point drop year over year. He had perhaps the worst playoff series of his career against the Rangers in 2024, with no goals or assists and five shots on goal in New York’s sweep.

Ovechkin put those concerns to rest with 17 goals in his first 20 games of the 2024-25 season, the hottest goal-scoring start of his career. Not even a fractured fibula could slow him down for long. After being injured on Nov. 18, he returned to the Capitals lineup on Dec. 28 — scoring another goal in his comeback game. As was often said about Ovechkin during a career built on good health: Russian Machine never breaks.

The gap between Ovechkin and Gretzky became one of single digits. Breaking the record was no longer just possible. It was inevitable.

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Where does Ovechkin rank all time among NHL greats?

“The Drop” discusses where Alex Ovechkin falls in the conversation of greatest hockey players in NHL history as he closes in on Wayne Gretzky’s goal record.


The Legacy Era

Ovechkin’s contract expires after the 2025-26 season. He has indicated it might be his last one in the NHL. If healthy enough, finishing his playing career with Dynamo Moscow in the KHL is a possibility.

It won’t be the last of Ovechkin in North America, of course. He would have been a Hockey Hall of Fame player with or without the goals record, but will be inducted in Toronto the moment he’s eligible.

Where Ovechkin ranks on all-time NHL player lists is subjective — criticisms of his defensive game will undoubtedly put him below a more well-rounded player like Crosby, for example. Being “the greatest goal-scorer of all-time” is more quantifiable, especially when one considers how Ovechkin achieved his career total against goaltenders, defensive systems and a depth of talent that Gretzky didn’t face for most of his career.

However Ovechkin is remembered, his legacy is the culmination of all the eras he toured throughout his NHL career. The highs, the lows, the turbulence and the triumphs combined to create one of the singular superstars in NHL history.


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Ovechkin career goal record chase: No. 894 ties Wayne Gretzky

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Ovechkin career goal record chase: No. 894 ties Wayne Gretzky

After breaking the 800-goal barrier during the 2022-23 season, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin now has his sights set on breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record of 894.

Ovechkin began the 2024-25 season with 853 goals and has tied the record, with 894. The excitement around the chase has led to Ovi becoming one of the NHL’s most popular bets, with a slew of interesting props.

Follow along here as we chronicle each subsequent goal Ovechkin scores this season, including goal highlights, the upcoming Capitals schedule and how to watch.

Subscribe to ESPN+ | Stream the NHL on ESPN
Upcoming schedule | Goal videos


The NHL’s top 10 in career goals

T-1. Wayne Gretzky (894)
T-1. Alex Ovechkin (894)
3. Gordie Howe (801)
4. Jaromir Jagr (766)
5. Brett Hull (741)
6. Marcel Dionne (731)
7. Phil Esposito (717)
8. Mike Gartner (708)
9. Mark Messier (694)
10. Steve Yzerman (692)


Goals scored in 2024-25

No. 894: April 4 vs. CHI

How else but on the power play? Six minutes, 13 seconds into the third period, Ovechkin scored the record-tying goal as Wayne Gretzky watched from the crowd. The monumental goal was assisted by John Carlson and Andrew Mangiapane.

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Ovechkin shows love to crowd after tying Gretzky at 894 goals

Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky for most goals in NHL history at 894.

No. 893: April 4 vs. CHI

Ovechkin scored 3:52 into the first period against the Blackhawks to move two goals away from the all-time record — and score his 40th of the season. The goal was assisted by Dylan Strome and John Carlson.

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Ovechkin 2 away from passing Gretzky with 893rd goal

Alex Ovechkin lights the lamp as he inches closer to breaking Wayne Gretzkys all-time scoring record.

No. 892: April 2 vs. CAR

Now just three goals away from the record, Ovechkin’s 892nd was a vintage strike — powering home a shot from the left circle on a Capitals power play to cut into the Hurricanes’ lead.

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Alex Ovechkin now 3 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin scores career goal 892, putting him three away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record.

No. 891: April 1 vs. BOS

Ovechkin was in the right place at the right time for his 891st career goal. He received the puck just in front of an empty net and scored on the power play — which secured his 18th career season with at least 10 power-play goals, according to ESPN Research.

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Ovechkin scores 891st goal, 4 away from breaking record

Alex Ovechkin scores from close range, putting him three away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s record.

No. 890: March 30 vs. BUF

Ovechkin’s chase to pass Gretzky can now be counted down on one hand. He found the net midway through the third period on a neat no-look tip-in.

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Ovechkin scores 890th goal, moves 5 away from breaking Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin scores on a fantastic redirection for his 890th career goal.

No. 889: March 25 vs. WPG

Facing a 2-1 deficit late in the third period, Ovechkin connected on a snap shot to even the game. It marked the 150th game-tying goal of his career, 11 more than anyone else in NHL history, according to ESPN Research.

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Ovechkin’s 889th goal moves him 6 away from breaking Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin nets his 889th career goal to tie the score in the third period, putting him six away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.

No. 888: March 20 vs. PHI

Ovechkin put home a follow-up chance late in the first period versus the Flyers. Ovi now has has 52 career goals against Philadelphia, the all-time second-most against the Flyers, passing Mario Lemieux.

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Ovechkin 7 goals away from passing Gretzky after 888th goal

Alex Ovechkin nets his 888th career goal, putting him seven away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.

No. 887: March 15 vs. SJ

Already comfortably ahead against San Jose, Ovechkin tipped in a goal in the third period. Eighteen of Ovi’s 34 goals have come in the third period this season, the most in the NHL, according to ESPN Research.

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Ovechkin’s redirect goal moves him 8 away from breaking Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin redirects the puck into the net for his 887th career goal.

No. 886: March 9 vs. SEA

Ovechkin was out on the ice to help preserve a late third-period lead against Seattle, and wrestled enough space from a Kraken defender to score an empty-net goal to put the game out of reach.

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Alex Ovechkin nets career goal No. 886, eight shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin taps in an empty-netter for career goal No. 886 and his 1,600th point.

No. 885: March 5 vs. NYR

Ovi’s goal went a long way for the Capitals as it evened the score with 9:32 left in the third period. Washington went on to secure an overtime victory after Ovechkin netted his 32nd goal in 46 games this season.

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Ovechkin scores 885th goal, 10 away from passing Gretzky

Alex Ovechkin scores his 32nd goal of the season, putting him only 10 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.

No. 884: March 1 vs. TB

Although the Capitals lost a showdown with old Southeastern Division foe Tampa Bay, Ovi put himself 10 goals from tying Gretzky via a third-period goal assisted by Matt Roy.

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Alex Ovechkin closes in on history with late goal for Capitals

Alex Ovechkin is just 10 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s record 894 after this goal against the Lightning.

No. 883: Feb. 25 vs. CGY

Ovechkin connected on a goal on a Capitals power play against the Calgary Flames, his eighth in eight games and 30th of the season. Ovechkin is the fourth player in NHL history to score 30 goals at age 39 or older.

Nos. 880, 881, 882: Feb. 23 vs. EDM

Ovechkin first found the net nearly halfway through the second period against the Edmonton Oilers. About ten minutes later, he did it again, concluding a Washington power play with a goal. His third came on an empty netter late in the third period, Ovechkin’s seventh empty net goal this season.

Ovechkin has 200 goals since Jan. 1, 2020, becoming the first player in NHL history to score 200+ goals in three different decades. Ovechkin is now on pace to break Gretzky’s career goals record by the end of this season, per all three methodologies ESPN Research has used.

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Ovechkin’s hat trick puts him 13 away from breaking Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin scores a hat trick against the Oilers to reach 882 career goals.

No. 879: Feb. 6 vs. PHI

Down 1-0 in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers, Ovechkin evened the score in the final minute with a one-timer.

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Alex Ovechkin moves 16 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record

Alex Ovechkin scores his 879th career goal to move 16 goals away from eclipsing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record

No. 878: Feb. 4 vs. FLA

Every second counts. Ovechkin netted his 878th goal with just 0.1 seconds left, slotting the puck in an empty net against the Florida Panthers.

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Alexander Ovechkin beats the buzzer to score goal 878

Alexander Ovechkin scores an empty-netter with 0.1 left to give him his 878th goal of his career.

No. 877: Feb. 1 vs. WPG

Ovechkin tied the game with under eight minutes left in the third period with his 877th goal. The Caps would lose in overtime in a matchup of two of the NHL’s top teams.

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Alex Ovechkin brings Caps even with his 877th career goal

Alex Ovechkin ties the score at 4 and moves 18 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record.

No. 876: Jan. 30 vs. OTT

Ovechkin scored against the Ottawa Senators exactly two weeks in ago in their Jan. 16 matchup and did it again with a power play finish in the third period against Ottawa. It marked Ovechkin’s NHL-record 318th career power play goal.

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Alex Ovechkin nets his 876th goal with a great shot from the point

Alex Ovechkin finds the back of the net for his 876th goal to pull the Capitals within 1.

No. 875: Jan. 23 vs. SEA

Ovi added another empty-net tally to his career total to put the finishing touches on this victory for the Caps, assisted by Trevor van Riemsdyk and Jakob Chychrun.

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Alex Ovechkin scores 875th NHL goal

Alex Ovechkin scores in the third period and is now 20 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky on the NHL’s all-time list.

No. 874: Jan. 16 vs. OTT

Ovechkin locked in one record with his 874th goal. He broke the mark for the most goaltenders scored on after slotting one past Ottawa’s Leevi Merilainen for a game-winning overtime goal.

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Alex Ovechkin’s 874th career goal wins it in OT for the Capitals

Alex Ovechkin breaks through in overtime with his 874th career goal to propel the Capitals to a 1-0 win.

No. 873: Jan. 11 vs. NSH

Ovechkin put the finishing touches on a the Caps’ 4-1 win over the Predators by way of an empty-net goal.

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Alex Ovechkin scores his 873rd career goal on empty net

Alex Ovechkin moves 21 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s record with an empty-net goal to seal the Capitals’ win.

No. 872: Jan. 4 vs. NYR

The Capitals wound up scoring seven on the reeling Rangers, and Ovechkin’s 19th of the season made it 5-3 in the third period, assisted by Dylan Strome.

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Alex Ovechkin scores his 872nd career goal to increase Caps’ lead

Alex Ovechkin nets his 872nd career goal and is 23 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record.

No. 871: Jan. 2 vs. MIN

Although the Capitals lost in a shootout to the Wild, Ovechkin added to his career total via a second-period, power-play goal, assisted by Dylan Strome.

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Ovechkin inches closer to Gretzky’s record with another goal

Alex Ovechkin moves closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goalscoring record with this fierce finish vs. the Wild.

No. 870: Dec. 29 vs. DET

Ovechkin is making up for time lost during his injury absence, scoring his second goal in as many games since returning. His 17th of the season was assisted by Jakob Chychrun and Connor McMichael.

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Ovechkin inches closer to Gretzky with 870th goal

Alex Ovechkin is now 25 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 goals.

No. 869: Dec. 28 vs. TOR

In his first game back following a five-week stint on injured reserve, Ovechkin notched an empty-net goal to seal the deal against the Maple Leafs. The goal was assisted by Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois.

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Alex Ovechkin scores in return to Capitals

Alex Ovechkin comes one goal closer to the record after scoring an empty-net goal.

No. 868, 867: Nov. 18 vs. UTA

A day after his hat trick against Vegas, Ovechkin scored two more against the Hockey Club — and might’ve had another if he wasn’t knocked out of the game following a collision with Jack McBain. Goal No. 867 was assisted by Pierre-Luc Dubois, while No. 868 was on the power play, and assisted by John Carlson and Dylan Strome.

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Ovechkin’s 2nd goal of the night gets him to 868

Alex Ovechkin nets his second goal of the game to put the Capitals up 4-1 over the Utah HC, and moves within 26 goals of tying Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.

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Alex Ovechkin cashes goal 867 for Capitals

Alex Ovechkin finds the back of the net to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead over Utah, and moves within 27 goals of tying Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.

No. 866, 865, 864: Nov. 17 vs. VGK

Back in 2018, Ovechkin and the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in Vegas. There was less at stake in this game, but Ovi came through with a hat trick in the Caps’ 5-2 win: a first-period, power-play tally (assisted by John Carlson and Dylan Strome), a second-period score assisted by Matt Roy, and an empty-net goal to cap it off (assisted by Aliaksei Protas and Martin Fehervary).

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Alex Ovechkin lights the lamp

Alex Ovechkin lights the lamp

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Alex Ovechkin nets goal for Capitals

Alex Ovechkin nets goal for Capitals

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Ovechkin’s 864th goal tips off defender’s stick

Alex Ovechkin nets his 864th career goal after his shot banks off Alex Pietrangelo’s stick.

No. 863, 862: Nov. 9, 2024 vs. STL

Did you seriously think that an 8-1 win for the Capitals would not include any goals from Ovechkin? Ovi scored in the second period (assisted by Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome) to make it 2-1, then added a power-play tally in the third (assisted by Strome and Tom Wilson) to make it 4-1.

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Ovechkin tallies his 2nd goal of the game and 863rd of career

Alex Ovechkin’s wrist shot finds the net to pad the Capitals’ lead vs. the Blues and creep ever closer towards Gretzky’s scoring record.

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Alex Ovechkin nets 862nd goal

Alex Ovechkin nets 862nd goal

No. 861: Nov. 6, 2024 vs. NSH

Ovechkin scored his eighth goal of the season at 10:25 of the third period on assists from Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary.

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Alex Ovechkin nets 861st NHL goal vs. Nashville

Alex Ovechkin nets 861st NHL goal vs. Nashville

No. 860: Nov. 3, 2024 vs. CAR

Though the Capitals lost, 4-2, Ovi notched a first-period, power-play tally, on assists from John Carlson and Dylan Strome.

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Ovechkin tallies 860th goal, 34 away from tying Gretzky

Alex Ovechkin scores on the power play, which is his 860th career goal, making him 34 shy of tying Wayne Gretzky for the most goals of all time.

No. 859: Nov. 2, 2024 vs. CBJ

Ovechkin was one of six different Capitals to score in the team’s route of the BJs, and his goal was assisted by Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas.

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Ovechkin tallies goal No. 859 for Capitals

Alex Ovechkin slaps it in from distance to get his 859th career goal and pad the Capitals’ lead vs. the Blue Jackets.

No. 858: Oct. 31, 2024 vs. MTL

A 6-3 Capitals win with an Ovechkin goal as the capper? The fans went home happy from this one. Assists on this goal were from Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome.

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Alex Ovechkin tallies goal No. 858 for Caps

Alex Ovechkin pads the Capitals’ lead vs. the Canadiens with his 858th career goal.

No. 857, 856: Oct. 29, 2024 vs. NYR

A raucous, 5-3 win for the Capitals included two first-period tallies from Ovi, both assisted by Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome.

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Alex Ovechkin’s 857th goal puts Capitals back on top

Alex Ovechkin nets his second goal of the first period to retake the Capitals’ early lead vs. the Rangers.

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Alex Ovechkin 856th goal gets the Capitals on the board

Alex Ovechkin scores early in the first period to give the Capitals a quick 1-0 lead over the Rangers.

No. 855: Oct. 23, 2024 vs. PHI

Ovechkin has a knack for empty-net goals, and added to his career total in that category to cap off a win against Philly, with an assist from Dylan Strome.

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Alex Ovechkin scores goal vs. Flyers

Alex Ovechkin scores goal vs. Flyers

No. 854: Oct. 19, 2024 vs. NJ

It took to the fourth game of the Capitals’ season for Ovechkin to get his first marker of the campaign, on assists from John Carlson and Dylan Strome.

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Alex Ovechkin scores goal for Capitals

Alex Ovechkin nets goal for Capitals


Upcoming schedule

Note: All games available to ESPN+ subscribers at no extra charge as part of NHL Power Play on ESPN+, unless otherwise noted. Blackout restrictions apply.

Sun, Apr 6: at Islanders, 12:30 (TNT/truTV/Max)

Thu, Apr 10: vs. Carolina, 7:30

Sat, Apr 12: at Columbus, 7:00 (ABC/ESPN+)

Sun, Apr 13: vs. Columbus, 6:00

Tue, Apr 15: at Islanders, 8:00 (ESPN)

Thu, Apr 17: at Pittsburgh, 7:00 (ESPN)

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Ovechkin scores 894th, draws even with Gretzky

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Ovechkin scores 894th, draws even with Gretzky

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin wants to be the NHL’s all-time goal leader, but under one condition.

“I don’t want an empty net,” Ovechkin said.

Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals with two tallies in a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.

However, when the Blackhawks pulled goalie Spencer Knight late in the third period and the Capitals ahead 4-3, Ovechkin appeared to tell coach Spencer Carbery “no” and sat in the middle of the bench.

“He wants to break the record with a goaltender in the crease, which I appreciate,” Carbery said. “He told me that on the bench, and I just wanted to confirm that he didn’t want to go out. And it’s hard for us as coaches because I just wanted to make sure in that moment: hat track, at home. And he didn’t want to go out and score on an empty net to break the record. We have six games left, and he wants to break the record and have that moment where he’s shooting the puck past a goalie.”

Ovechkin said it wasn’t just Carbery who asked him late in the game.

“I tell Carbs right away, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Stromer [Dylan Strome] ask me, Carly [John Carlson] ask me, everybody ask me, ‘Do you want it? Do you want it?'” Ovechkin said. “I said let’s wait.”

Ovechkin said this at a news conference while sitting next to Gretzky, who quipped: “I’ll take all the empty nets I can get.”

Ovechkin has nine more empty-net goals than Gretzky did in his career.

Rookie Ryan Leonard scored on the empty net for his first career goal to seal the victory.

“The young man that got his first goal tonight said, ‘Only have 895 to go to pass Alex,'” Gretzky said with a smile.

“I’m happy for Leno,” Ovechkin said. “He score his first NHL goal. The kid have a great future. Tonight is an unbelievable night for our organization, for hockey, for D.C. Wayne Gretzky saw that, and it’s unbelievable.”

Once Leonard scored and Knight returned, Ovechkin was ready to strike again. The 39-year-old took four shots over the final 1 minute, 18 seconds of game time, to no avail.

“I have pretty good chances in the last minute,” Ovechkin said, before joking: “If Stromer give me a nice pass, like a flat one, it would be probably be in.”

The record-tying goal had the entire Capitals team spilling onto the ice, followed by an extended celebration where Ovechkin took several laps, fist-bumped his son Sergei who was sitting on the glass, bowed to the suite where Gretzky was sitting and blew kisses to the crowd.

“You just can’t script this stuff,” Carbery said. “It’s right on brand for O; he has a flair for the dramatics.”

After the game, Blackhawks players stayed on the ice to do a handshake line with Ovechkin.

“Obviously very classy by the Hawks organization what they did tonight for ‘O’ and it’s as good as it gets,” Capitals winger Tom Wilson said. “We have more to look forward to hopefully, but this was an incredible night.”

The Eastern Conference-leading Capitals next play Sunday against the Islanders on Long Island, New York, one of six remaining regular-season games on their schedule.

When Ovechkin breaks the record, the NHL plans to stop the game and host a 7- to 10-minute ceremony featuring commissioner Gary Bettman, Ovechkin’s family, Gretzky and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. There will be speeches and a video tribute. The same treatment was given to Gretzky 31 years ago when he broke Gordie Howe’s record, with Howe on hand. Bettman gave Gretzky a book with game sheets as a gift.

Ovechkin has scored in four consecutive games and has 41 goals this season, 10 coming on empty nets. He beat Knight 3:52 into the first period Friday, then scored his 894th on a power play with 13:47 left in the third. It proved to be his 136th game winner, breaking a tie with Jaromir Jagr for most ever.

There was an aura around Friday’s morning skate, where Ovechkin’s mood was lighthearted. The Capitals captain was often smiling and laughing, especially when he got off the ice and interacted with several of his former Stanley Cup-winning teammates — Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, Braden Holtby, Brooks Orpik, Devante Smith-Pelly — who were honored in a pregame ceremony later that night as part of the Capitals’ 50th anniversary season. Ovechkin also had a contingent of friends and family in town for Friday’s game, some who are staying at his house.

But the big guest was Gretzky, who flew in to see his record get broken. He had held the record for 11,334 days, since March 23, 1994.

“I’m so proud of the fact that I’m here tonight,” Gretzky said during media availability in the first intermission. “The commissioner and I talked the other day, and Alex said don’t come until I get to two. I thought yesterday, ‘Gosh we better get on the plane and get up there because he might get three tonight.’ When he scored four minutes in, I thought, ‘Oh my god, we might be able to leave after the first period.'”

Bettman has committed to following Ovechkin until he breaks the record, a journey that began Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gretzky said he and his wife, Janet, will be in Long Island on Sunday.

Gretzky and Ovechkin had texted regularly in the days leading up to Friday’s game, and even FaceTimed. Ovechkin has spoken about how appreciative he is of Gretzky’s support — which to Gretzky, was a no-brainer.

“The integrity of the game,” Gretzky said. “When I was breaking Gordie Howe’s record, he was there. And I said two years ago that if Alex gets close to my record, I’ll be here. That’s the National Hockey League, Beliveau to Howe, Orr, Lemieux, Messier, you pass it down.”

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