Ryan Leonard scored his first NHL goal with Wayne Gretzky in attendance at Capital One Arena to watch Alex Ovechkin tie his all-time goals record.
After the game, Gretzky made his way down to the Capitals’ locker room to take photos with Ovechkin and the milestone puck. Before making his way out, though, he asked Ovechkin to quiet down the rest of the Capitals so that he could single out Leonard and congratulate him.
“The kid who scored in the empty net, where is he?” Gretzky said. “It was a tough decision, wasn’t it? ‘Do I go around the net?’ Congratulations on your first goal. 895 more and you can pass him.”
Gretzky shook hands with the 20-year-old rookie, now 893 career goals behind both Gretzky and Ovechkin. Leonard potted the empty-netter with Ovechkin, just one goal away from breaking the record, and adamant that he didn’t want to do so into an empty net.
Leonard, who called the moment with Gretzky “pretty cool,” was fully aware of the gravity of the game he had just played in.
“I mean, it’s cool to score an empty-netter, but at the end of the day, I witnessed history tonight,” Leonard said. “So, I mean, it’s cool to score your first, but that guy scored a lot of goals. So I think it’s even cooler with just sprinting onto the ice. Everyone is just so happy and excited. It’s just the culture in here. It speaks for itself. It’s so much fun to play for the Capitals and to watch that guy do the impossible, honestly.”
Leonard is less than a week removed from waking up in his dorm room at Boston College to go to class. Now, he’s living with Pierre-Luc Dubois, an NHL goal scorer, a teammate of Ovechkin, and just shook the hand of The Great One. So, understandably, the 2023 first-round draft pick has likely been unable to fully process what he’s been through over the past few days.
“No, no, no, I can’t,” Leonard said. “It’s so weird to think about. To think about this is my first pro week, and I think [Ovechkin] scored in all three games. I just realized that. It’s crazy to see him do it, especially at his age, too. The guy just hasn’t missed a beat.”
Friday night’s win was also Leonard’s first-ever home game for the Capitals. He expressed excitement about playing in front of the Capitals’ faithful pregame, but even he was surprised by how crazy the crowd was.
“I didn’t know I’d get that loud of a scream for an empty-net goal,” Leonard said. “Just watching the celebration, just seeing all the passion with the fan base. It’s just so cool to be a part of. I’m really just trying to soak it in, but it really just hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Leonard will play his fourth career NHL game against the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon before returning for round two at Capital One Arena with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
