Alex Ovechkin continues to do eye-raising things at age 39.
Saturday, during the third period of the Washington Capitals’ 8-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ovechkin had the third-longest shift of his NHL career (since 2010-11 when the data began being officially tracked), staying on the ice for a staggering four minutes and 43 seconds.
The shift marked the eleventh time in Ovechkin’s career that he’s been on the ice for over four minutes and it was his longest since a December 9, 2022, game against the Seattle Kraken when was on the ice for 4:57.
Ovechkin’s longest shifts in 2024-25 were previously a 3:30 skate against Pittsburgh in November and a 3:19 stay against Minnesota in January.
All of Alex Ovechkin’s 4 minute-plus shifts
| Rank | Date | Period | Start | End | Shift length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12/16/2019 | 3 | 14:46 | 20:00 | 5:14 |
| 2 | 12/9/2022 | 2 | 9:48 | 14:45 | 4:57 |
| 3 | 2/22/2025 | 3 | 2:22 | 7:05 | 4:43 |
| 4 | 2/28/2016 | 3 | 15:18 | 20:00 | 4:42 |
| 5 | 3/19/2023 | 3 | 15:33 | 20:00 | 4:27 |
| 6 | 3/8/2018 | 3 | 5:37 | 10:00 | 4:23 |
| 7 | 1/31/2015 | 2 | 6:44 | 11:01 | 4:17 |
| 8 | 2/23/2020 | 2 | 3:00 | 7:08 | 4:08 |
| 9 | 3/22/2018 | 1 | 6:11 | 10:18 | 4:07 |
| 10 | 3/30/2024 | 4 | 0:57 | 5:00 | 4:03 |
| 11 | 2/22/2020 | 1 | 0:32 | 4:33 | 4:01 |
Ovechkin’s entire 4:43-long shift on Saturday began 2:22 into the third period as the Capitals had a 6-2 lead and looked to get the Russian winger his first goal of the game.
Ovi took the ice as a delayed penalty was being called on Penguins defenseman Vincent Desharnais for holding Lars Eller. Four seconds later (2:26), Desharnais went to the box and a Capitals five-on-four power play began. After 33 seconds of that five-on-four power play elapsed, at 2:59, Kris Letang took a four-minute double minor after bloodying Dylan Strome with a high-stick. The Capitals received a one minute and 1:27 long two-man advantage before finishing with another 2:33 of five-on-four power play time.
Ovechkin was on the ice for the entire Capitals’ power play and generated 8 individual shot attempts and 3 shots by himself. He was also credited with 1 takeaway. The Capitals did not ultimately score.
“Watching the film back… I was sweating watching the time tick up,” Spencer Carbery said on Sunday before the Capitals’ 7-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. “When we’re on the power play, especially the five-on-three, so almost a full two minutes of the five-on-three where he’s able to play somewhat stationary — he doesn’t have to go up and down the ice, so that is a big chunk of it. But you could feel, at least I felt it on the bench and then watching it back, on the power play, when there’s blood in the water and we had them on the ropes, no energy level is going to hold him back.
“Four minutes, five minutes, he’ll be able to find a little bit of an extra gear and that’s what I felt like was [happening] as he was staying out through that. They were still effective and still generating some really good looks. He gets the one off the post, maybe that’s at the four minute mark of his shift. I’ve said this before — I don’t have an issue as long as we’re not putting ourselves in vulnerable spots in those situations and I didn’t feel like that was [happening] last night, especially with the score being where it was. He’s always trying to make a difference in the game and help us score a power play goal.”
According to NHL stats, there have been 67 instances of a player recording a shift of 4:40 or longer since 2010-11 (when the data began being officially tracked). Ovechkin has the 12th longest recorded shift, spending 5:14 on the ice during a December 16, 2019 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ovi stayed on until the final buzzer to try and rally the Caps from a 3-0 deficit.
After the Capitals’ victory over the Penguins on Saturday, Ovechkin, still fresh as a daisy, recorded his 32nd career hat trick against the Edmonton Oilers the very next day and climbed to within 13 of soley owning the NHL goals record.
