Alex Ovechkin is one of the most unselfish players in NHL history, known around the league as a guy who celebrates his teammates’ goals more than his own. But in Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which may have been his final appearance in The Steel City, Ovi had some unusual decision-making late in the game.
Ovechkin lit the lamp for the 929th time in his career with an empty-net goal, but what he did right before that raised some eyebrows.
Ovechkin and Tom Wilson played a game of hot potato with the puck — passing back and forth with each other — before Ovechkin eventually relented and shot it into the yawning twine. Ovechkin, who has the most empty-netters in NHL history with 72, almost always is ultra-aggressive in empty-net opportunities.
Alex Ovechkin’s 929th career goal
Ovechkin was mic’d up for the game, which captured his reaction and conversation after the goal.
“I tried to give it to you,” he told Wilson, grinning.
“C’mon, respect first,” Wilson replied.
Wilson had scored earlier in the contest for his 30th goal of the season.
“I don’t know how many times we passed it back and forth, but it felt like three or four,” Wilson told reporters postgame. “We say it’s respect first. So he’s the legend, and it’s always fun to assist on an Ovi goal.”
So why would Ovechkin pass up an opportunity to score in a situation like this? One clue may be from December 23, 2022, during one of the biggest nights of his career.
While out during an empty-net opportunity against the Winnipeg Jets, Ovechkin appeared uncomfortable shooting when he scored the 802nd goal of his career, passing Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time goals list. Like this afternoon’s tally with Wilson, Ovechkin kept passing the puck back to Evgeny Kuznetsov before running out of real estate and sending a no-look shot from the sideboards into the net.
Ovechkin’s actions strongly suggested he’d prefer to score on a goaltender for the milestone, but he didn’t say as much after the game.
“You know it’s kind of situation if you have it, you take it,” Ovechkin said. “I give it to Kuzy, and he’s like I don’t want to take it. After that, it’s special.”
“I’ll feel probably bad if I score over there, and half of the world probably will be so mad at me,” Kuznetsov added. “I do have a lot of haters anyway. The reputation or whatever, so I rather to lose the puck over there and backcheck if he didn’t score. I’m glad that it happened in front of our fans.”
Coming into today’s game against the Penguins, Ovechkin’s previous goal, the 928th of his career, was scored against Philadelphia Flyers‘ goaltender Dan Vladar, which turned out to be the game-winning goal in the Capitals’ 6-4 victory on March 31.
Ovechkin, who is in the final year of his contract with the Capitals, has said he will make a decision over the summer on whether to keep playing and reiterated that point during his media session with reporters after the Penguins game.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be my last year or not,” Ovechkin said. “So I will talk if I’m going to say I’m retired. But I didn’t say that, so we’ll see.”
But one has to wonder. Ovechkin has been thoughtful, especially at the end of his career, about empty-net opportunities. He famously turned down a chance to score a hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks and break the NHL goals record in front of his home fans on April 4, 2025.
“I tell Carbs right away, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” Ovechkin said postgame. “Stromer ask me, Carly ask me, everybody ask me, ‘Do you want it? Do you want it?’ I said, ‘Let’s wait.’”
“He wants to break the record with a goaltender in the crease, which I appreciate, and he didn’t want to go up,” Carbery said that night. “He told me that on the bench, and I just wanted to confirm and make sure that he didn’t want to go out.
“Being at home, it’s hard, right? Because for us as coaches and me, even, I just want to make sure that he — ‘Are you sure in this moment, hat trick, at home?’ And he didn’t want to go out and score on an empty net to break the record. And I appreciate that. We have six games left. He wants to break the record and have that moment be where he’s shooting a puck past a goalie. And I have a lot of appreciation for that.”
Ovechkin’s final goal of his career will ultimately be the NHL goals record — the next number that will be chased by players for generations to come. The goal will be a highlight that’s aired over and over, helping paint a picture of one of the most brilliant careers in hockey history for future fans.
I would understand if Ovechkin prefers that final goal, whenever it is, to be against a goalie.
