The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 at Capital One Arena on Thursday. The victory made the Caps the first team in the NHL to 100 standings points this season and secured their playoff spot.
But that’s not what fans will remember this game for. They will remember the 8s.
In the first period, Alex Ovechkin scored on a muffin to notch his 888th career goal, bringing him to within 7 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goals record.
Ovi’s historic tally, as I noted in a viral tweet on X, started a cosmic dance with the number 8 on every Caps goal of the evening.
A summary
The Great Eight, who wears number 8, scores career goal no. 888 to make it 1-0.
Brandon Duhaime scores his 8th goal of the season with 18:04 remaining in the second period to make it 2-0. Anthony Beauvillier records his eighth assist of the year on the play.
Andrew Mangiapane, who wears number 88, scores the Capitals’ third goal of the night with 8:54 remaining in the second period.
“There was lots of 8s out there,” Ovechkin astutely pointed out post-game.
The three 8-inspired goals were enough to give the Capitals the playoff-clinching win. If they continue this pace, they’ll play the eighth-seeded Eastern Conference team in the postseason.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going on,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said of the repeating digits. “He scores– yeah, a lot of 8s. Lot of 8s in the building tonight.”
The Capitals telecast started with Joe Beninati and Alan May in front of an Alex Ovechkin goals record countdown clock that read 8 behind their heads.
Bold spring colors#joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/iGIYQrO0ql
— RMNB (@rmnb) March 20, 2025
When Ovi scored, the goals record countdown clock turned to 7 as Slapshot updated the in-arena Ovechkin goal counter to 888. Happily cheering Caps fans, mostly wearing Alex Ovechkin number 8 jerseys, roared.
The moment seems to have caused some kind of great 8 energy shift, like hitting all lucky number 7s on a slot machine.
You may not have felt it, but 28-year-old, 88-wearer Andrew Mangiapane did.
“Yeah, it was pretty funny there,” he said. “I saw up on the banner there it was 888 so I said, ‘Maybe it’s a good sign for me. Maybe I’ll get one here.’ So it worked out pretty well and just kind of manifested it there.”
The Capitals, who managed only 8 shots during the second period, held their geographic rival to 28 shots in the game.
A gr8 game indeed.
