ELMONT, NY — Alex Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal celebration was the belly flop heard around the world.
Ovechkin cemented his hockey legacy against the New York Islanders on Sunday, scoring the 895th goal of his career to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. After years of anticipation, Ovechkin capped off the historic goal with an epic celebration, diving to the ice with his arms flying out to the side as his teammates poured off the bench.
“Unbelievable,” Dylan Strome said of the moment. “Unbelievable. Awesome. Awesome. I thought it was perfect.”
Though Ovechkin has been known for his enthusiastic goal celebrations over his career, he noted postgame that he hadn’t planned for the now-viral slide.
“Ice was bad today, so I fell,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it’s a pretty cool moment. It was cool.”
Ovechkin’s high-speed tumble, which has since been honored in bobblehead, shirt and autographed photo form, harkened back to the festivities that followed the biggest team achievement of his career — the 2018 Stanley Cup — when Ovechkin and several of his teammates swam in a Georgetown fountain.
“That looked very much like a fountain dive,” said TJ Oshie. “I’m not trademarking it right now, but it was a fountain-esque dive that he did there over the blue line.”
“Almost,” Ovechkin said of the comparison.
Olympic championship swimmer and DC local Katie Ledecky, who praised Ovechkin’s fountain-navigating technique, congratulated him once again on Sunday for his diving prowess.
Loss of balance aside, the moment was one of both joy and relief for Ovechkin, who finally reached his history-making goal.
