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JERRY KILL KNEW when he took the head coaching job at New Mexico State in 2022 that the program was strapped for cash, but it wasn’t until a few weeks into his tenure that he really understood the severity of the budget shortfall.

That’s when they came for his coffee.

The budget was so tight, the school threatened removal of free coffee in the coaches’ offices, which, for Kill, was a bridge too far.

“That didn’t last too long,” said Kill, who left New Mexico State after 2023 for a role at Vanderbilt. “I’m going to drink coffee.”

These are perilous times for schools outside the Power 4 — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC — and behind every major concern lies the same root cause: money. In addition to New Mexico State’s great coffee revolt, smaller schools across the country are facing increasingly difficult choices in how to fund athletic budgets in the new era of college football where cash is king.

An incomplete list of potentially existential threats to schools in the Group of 5: realignment, revenue sharing, increased scholarships, the transfer portal, an autonomy conference breakaway, playoff access, control over NCAA governance, consolidation by the newly revived Pac-12 and, apparently, coffee.

Even for the best of the bunch, Boise State, there’s little room for comfort, despite being the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff. Head coach Spencer Danielson lamented the fact that more than a dozen of his current players — guys set to participate in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl — are being actively recruited into the portal by Power 4 schools.

“The more you win, it makes it easier for every other school to recruit your roster,” Danielson said. “That’s a constant battle.”

Just three years ago, Cincinnati became the sport’s most successful underdog story of the modern era by forcing its way into the four-team College Football playoff. It did so with a roster of NFL prospects, like Desmond Ridder and Sauce Gardner. But now, even former Bearcats coach Luke Fickell doesn’t think it’s possible to build a team that good without the resources and cache of a power conference affiliation.

“It’s not happening [now],” Fickell said, “and either you can bang your head against the wall or kind of embrace it.”

The landscape is changing quickly, and with each new step in the process, the foundation for the Group of 5 becomes less secure.

Add it all up, and from the cream of the crop at Boise State to the bottom of the financial barrel at New Mexico State, the challenges for the teams outside the power conferences are bigger than ever.


JUST ONE ROUND of the 12-team playoff model is in the books, and structural changes are already being debated. The current deal expires after next season, and odds are, the next iteration won’t be as kind to the Group of 5.

At the very least, there are likely to be tweaks to seeding rules, which currently guarantee the top four slots to the four highest ranked conference champs, which included Boise State this year. Without that guarantee, the Broncos would’ve likely had to play on the opening weekend and, quite possibly, on the road.

More concerning, however, is the potential for the Group of 5 to lose its guaranteed bid entirely. Multiple Power 4 athletic directors who spoke to ESPN suggested the industry was leaving money on the table by handing a playoff spot to a program that was unlikely to draw viewership or even play a competitive game.

“There’s a gap between us and them,” Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said. “There’s always been a gap. It’s gotten wider, but as long as this expanded CFP has access, it doesn’t matter what brand or conference you’re from, that’s what makes us relevant and allows us to compete.”

In other words, protecting that automatic bid is paramount, and that puts the onus on Boise State to perform well against Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl.

A loss — especially a lopsided one — will only throw gasoline onto a fire already burning hot, as criticism mounts over postseason blowouts and whether there’s real value in assuring top seeding or even basic access for the have-nots.

Multiple ADs who spoke with ESPN noted the increasing disparity in talent between the Group of 5 and the power conferences, and they pointed out that what recently had been the best programs outside the power conferences — Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and UCF — are now in the Power 4.

And the numbers tell a blunt story.

While the 2024 season has had its share of upsets — Northern Illinois toppling Notre Dame, Memphis upending Florida State, James Madison steamrolling North Carolina — teams outside the Power 4 (minus Notre Dame) finished the regular season 9-88 against the power schools.

So while the Broncos can make a run at a national championship and the occasional upset can still happen, more often Cinderella will arrive at the ball to find the gates to the castle are already locked.

American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti said he’s not worried, but he also suggested any attempt to keep Group of 5 teams out of the playoff would result in quick antitrust litigation.

But lawsuits aren’t the only option for the Group of 5. This past summer, those conferences began discussing the possibility of creating their own playoff — something Pernetti advocated for as a means to grow revenue.

“There’s four [conferences] that are going to get left out of the CFP and will be assigned to whatever bowl tie-in they have,” Pernetti said. “There’s no guarantee they have something truly meaningful to play for in the postseason. So what’s the downside of something new? What’s the downside of more meaningful postseason football if it’s additive?”

The idea, Pernetti said, would be to create an NIT-style postseason tournament for football featuring the best teams from the Group of 5 — and potentially the power conferences — who didn’t make the College Football Playoff. A number of Group of 5 coaches said they’d be eager to see this system come to pass, but this, too, illustrates the line of demarcation in today’s game.

“I’m not interested in playing in a G5 playoff,” San Diego State AD John David Wicker said. “I’m interested in the College Football Playoff.”

Boise State’s first-round bye guarantees a payout of at least $8 million for the Mountain West, a boon for a league and a school that need every penny to remain competitive.

But the question of financial viability is about more than just cash in hand today. Look no further than SMU, another 2024 College Football Playoff participant, which effectively bought its way into the ACC by agreeing not to take any of the conference’s TV money for its first nine seasons in the league, just for the chance to count itself among the Power 4.

Other programs, including Boise State, are working to find their own path to solid ground, even if it means paying an exit fee from the Mountain West to do so.

In the summer of 2023, San Diego State was on the cusp of joining the Power 5 — “we were item No. 2 on the agenda,” Wicker noted — before the Pac-12 fell apart. The Aztecs, along with Boise State, Colorado State and Fresno State, will now join a reconstructed Pac-12 in 2026, with eyes toward regaining “power conference” status. In recent months, UConn has had conversations with the Big 12 about membership, though those talks hit a snag. Assuming the Mountain West or Pac-12 continues the realignment reshuffling, the logistics of the Group of 5 could look entirely different by 2026, when the next iteration of the playoff begins.

The potential consolidation of the best programs currently outside the Power 4 creates another image problem though. Administrators at the bigger schools see a landscape that bears little resemblance to the setting when Cincinnati crashed the playoff party in 2021. The wealthiest Group of 5 schools from 2021 are now mostly in the Power 4, and many others are angling for invites. Everyone else faces such a shortfall of both money and talent that there’s no realistic path for them to consistently compete at the highest level.

“You have to think at some point they’re going to say, ‘Why do we want the G5 to be represented?’ Because the money has made every decision,” Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell said. “The whole reason they expanded is so the top conferences can get as many of their programs into the tournament. I hope there’s a seat at the table, but you have to be realistic with it. Would they rather see us vs. whoever or another SEC team?”


TO PAY FOR the coffee at New Mexico State — in addition to a new practice field, a football operations center and a nascent NIL collective — Kill hit the road. He lobbied local legislators. He hobnobbed with potential donors. He spoke at booster events. He spent an inordinate amount of time doing something that had nothing to do with coaching, but everything to do with winning in college football’s new era: He asked for money. He even donated $120,000 out of his own pocket to help make the budget work.

“The biggest payout we got was $1.8 million for beating Auburn [in 2023],” Kill noted. “But that went toward the deficit, so we didn’t see any of it.”

Bronco Mendenhall served as head coach at BYU and Virginia for 18 years, but when he took over at New Mexico in 2024, he said he spent more time fundraising in his first months there than at any of his previous jobs.

Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock said it’s nearly impossible to fully engage with his team because of all the fundraising demands. He has instituted a schedule in which he spends a sizable chunk of his time from January through June working on raising money, then turns his focus toward coaching from July through the end of the season.

When Pernetti met with his league’s coaches after taking the commissioner job last year, the most frequent complaint was the time spent on recruiting and fundraising over coaching and player development.

It’s a constant refrain among coaches, but at the Group of 5 level, the needs are existential.

Group of 5 coaches who spoke to ESPN suggested the money needed just to retain the bulk of their starters has grown — doubled or tripled by some estimates — in the past year. But even that line on the expense report is probably drastically underestimating the problem. With the House settlement ushering in a new era of revenue sharing, where most Power 4 schools are expected to use upward of $15 million on direct payments to football players, the market is likely to shift heavily again. This time, it’s doubtful many Group of 5 schools will be able to ante up with anything comparable to a Power 4 school.

After leading New Mexico to a surprisingly strong 5-7 record in 2024, Mendenhall sat down with a number of his stars to discuss the future. In nearly every case, it was clear there was no way to retain them. The Lobos waved goodbye to their starting quarterback, top receiver, starting tailback and best O-lineman — all of whom transferred to Power 4 schools. Ultimately, Mendenhall also departed, taking the head coaching job at Utah State. His move was about family, he said — his sons all live or go to college in Utah — but there are numerous examples of coaches burned out on the grind of fundraising for the job who just want to get back to coaching players.

Just last year, three head coaches of Group of 5 programs — South Alabama‘s Kane Wommack, Georgia State‘s Shawn Elliott and Buffalo ‘s Maurice Lindquist — left for jobs as assistants at Power 4 schools. This offseason, Washington State coach Jake Dickert left what would once have been considered a solid job to take over at struggling Wake Forest.

For Kill, the onus of coaching at the Group of 5 level wasn’t the main reason he left New Mexico State after the school’s most successful season in a half-century, but it certainly played a part.

“I worked a whole lot of hours along with our staff, and in this era of football, I was going to have to do more next year and the next year,” Kill said. “You knew this thing was going to get bigger and bigger, and I said there was no way I could do it.”

Not long after he announced his retirement, however, he got a call from Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea with an offer to come aboard as an advisor. No fundraising, no glad-handing — just program-building and coaching.

“You don’t have any time to develop players anymore,” Kill said. “If he’s good, he’s going to leave. If he’s not playing, he’s going to leave. To build a team at this level, you’ve got two years.”

He took the job, and he’s making just shy of what he earned at New Mexico State. Five players, including QB Diego Pavia, also left the Aggies for Vandy.

Even the success stories, such as Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, come with a bit of an asterisk.

“[Jeanty] didn’t stay for free,” Mendenhall said. “He’s praised for staying and that’s great, but he didn’t stay out of the goodness of his heart. Boise State did all it could to keep him.”

The Broncos are one of the few programs at the Group of 5 level that can afford to keep a star. Danielson said his priority is retaining homegrown talent, and Boise State — while hardly flush with cash — has donors willing to step up to maintain success at what has been, for the past 20 years, the best program outside the power conferences.

Elsewhere, however, times are tough. In 2005, the average power conference football program generated about $10.9 million in annual revenue, compared with about $4.4 million for the average Group of 5 team. By the 2022-23 academic year, that gap in football revenue had grown to more than $30 million — a more than four-fold increase. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Add in a marked difference in cash on hand for their respective collectives and the investment already made in football-related facilities, and the difference might be better measured in light years than dollars.

“The money doesn’t just fall out of the air,” said Pernetti, who said the American is exploring numerous outside-the-box options to fill the gaps, including selling naming rights for the conference, adding advertising to uniforms and talking with investors in the private equity space. “Conferences have a responsibility more than ever before to figure out new revenue streams.”

Pernetti said he’s working with AAC schools on setting a minimum required revenue share for athletes with a focus on football, though the details remain fluid.

For many athletic directors at smaller schools, however, there’s seemingly no feasible way to come up with the cash to match what bigger schools will spend.

“Everyone is trying to figure out the maximum investment to have success,” Pernetti said. “The hard part is, it creates some gaps in what some institutions will do versus others.”

Hammock said he’s keenly aware which side of the ledger Northern Illinois is on, but he refuses to concede defeat just because he’ll be trailing on the balance sheet. Bigger schools can offer money, and that’s enticing. But he can offer relationships, growth and development, and he hopes there are still enough players out there eager for those things for NIU to keep pace.

“We’re trying to find the right type of people and families that want to have their sons developed,” Hammock said. “That still matters to certain people.”

That’s been the blueprint for Boise State, Danielson said. In an era in which every relationship is at least partially transactional, he has decided the key to success is finding players who appreciate what the Broncos can offer in any deal.

“Do we have what everybody else has? No. But do we have enough? Yes.” Danielson said. “There’s extremely high expectations here. Embracing those things and pushing forward to grow to where you can be closer. We don’t need to find 1,000 recruits that fit Boise State. We need to find 25.”


JEANTY FINISHED SECOND in this year’s Heisman race, demolished records for rushing and became a household name in college football. He’ll get a chance to play on one of the sport’s biggest stages in the Fiesta Bowl. He got paid.

That’s a pretty sweet deal, Danielson said, and it’s one Boise State is unique in being able to offer.

“It’s not a pipe dream. You can have it all at Boise State,” he said. “Do you want to win the Heisman? Come on. Do you want to make the playoff and get a first-round bye? Come on. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but you can do it here, and we have the stats to back it up.”

What Danielson hopes will be a winning sales pitch moving forward may also be an exception rather than the rule, and the talent drain from the have-nots up to the haves figures to get worse with added scholarships, reduced roster spots and a ton of new revenue-sharing dollars entering the market.

Last season, 273 players transferred from Group of 5 schools to power conference programs, an average of more than four per program. And unlike at the Power 4 level, where the bulk of outgoing transfers are leaving due to a lack of playing time, the portal departures from the Group of 5 are often stars. Last year, 88 of the players who left Group of 5 schools — nearly one-third of the total — had been named to all-conference teams the prior year.

With the settlement in the House case, schools in 2025 can offer up to 105 scholarships for football — 20 more than in years past — which makes for even more bleak math for the small schools trying to keep pace. Should all power-conference schools opt for the maximum, that would create nearly 1,400 new scholarships at the Power 4 level — and a sizable portion of those spots could be filled by players transferring up from the Group of 5.

“What will happen is it’ll give them more opportunities to get kids who might be good at this level to go up there and be third-team guys,” Chadwell said. “It’ll widen that gap even more…. If you didn’t have the portal, you could have some success. But it’s going to be harder and harder, because you don’t have the money to keep your top players, and the bigger schools will have the money and the scholarships.”

When Mendenhall first arrived at New Mexico after two years out of coaching, he said he was confident he could bridge the gap between his long-held belief in relationships and development and the new world order created by the transfer portal and NIL.

“I’m having to frame what success might look like in helping young,” Mendenhall said before the 2024 season. “That might not be longevity at an institution. It might just be helping them reach a new level in today’s market.”

And yet, when the season ended and Mendenhall sat down with stars like QB Devin Dampier, he realized he didn’t have the cash to keep them, and relationships he thought were strong ended quickly.

That’s when things really hit home for Mendenhall.

“The frustration of the relationship built, time spent and a player choosing to leave your program, that still hurts,” he said. “That’s the main difference I learned this year…. I still love these kids, and I’m thrilled for them now. But as a coach, you can end up becoming cynical. Or you can frame it — and I hate this idea — that you’re just going to have them for one year.”

In the future, he said, he plans to hire for a general manager position who will serve as a financial buffer for the head coach in those situations. It’s too hard, he said, to maintain an emotional relationship with players when money gets in the way, so he thinks it’s imperative to separate business and development.

Still, said Fickell, it’s impossible to completely wall off the coaching relationship from the financial one these days.

“I never wanted to be involved in money with kids because I thought it changed your relationship,” Fickell said. “And if I still felt that way, then I wouldn’t be able to coach in college football right now.”


TO WORK AT one of the sport’s have-not programs is to accept a certain amount of adversity with the job, so coaches and ADs at the Group of 5 level are accustomed to searching for silver linings.

The portal works both ways, as Chadwell noted, and that means a host of talented — if underdeveloped — players may leave the Power 4 for a chance at more playing time. Without film, a player isn’t making it to the NFL, so for all the allure of NIL dollars and a Power 4 pedigree, ultimately everyone prizes playing time.

Pernetti said the House settlement could also potentially open the door to multiyear contracts that would keep players in the fold longer, though the details on how that could work remain vague.

And some schools like Boise State have been able to parlay success on the field with strong fan enthusiasm to at least build an NIL collective strong enough to compete with bigger brands when it comes to retaining talent.

But there was a moment during last year’s Mountain West league meetings, Mendenhall said, that clarified the status of schools outside the Power 4 hierarchy. Administrators were discussing the House settlement and other changes coming to college football, debating how his conference could respond.

Mendenhall threw up his hands. What was the point in even debating strategy when it wouldn’t be the Group of 5 coaches or athletic directors making the decisions?

“We don’t decide,” Mendenhall said. “We adjust and adapt and react to what’s decided for us.”

And yet, Danielson and the Broncos are still eager to ante up. It’s a program, he said, “born with a chip on its shoulder,” and winning against long odds is the only way he knows how to do it.

Maybe there isn’t a foolproof blueprint to do more with less these days, but Danielson said there’s a path to success for programs with a clear vision and the right approach. The Broncos won’t win every battle. They just need to win enough.

“I believe, if you want to be developed on and off the field, for the NFL or for professional life, there’s not a better place than Boise State,” he said. “Does that mean we’ll never lose a player? No. But you’ll keep the right ones.”

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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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