Alex Ovechkin Ties Wayne Gretzky as Capitals Beat Blackhawks

The entire hockey world was focused on tonight’s game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals, as Alex Ovechkin entered the night three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. When you add that Ovechkin scored a hat trick against the Blackhawks in 2022 to join the 800-goal club, it was almost expected that history would be made. He made it interesting with two goals in the Capitals’ 5-3 win over the Blackhawks, but goal No. 894 will have to wait.

Ovechkin got an already energetic building rocking by scoring career goal No. 893 less than four minutes into the game. He found a soft spot in the Blackhawks’ defense at the bottom right circle, where he banked a shot off the far post and Spencer Knight’s back for his 40^th goal of the season.

The Blackhawks tied the game 10 minutes later. Frank Nazar started the play by getting in hard on the forecheck. He got the puck to Landon Slaggert, who made a backhand pass across the crease for an easy tap-in goal by Tyler Bertuzzi, his 21^st.

Nazar put the Blackhawks up 2-1 in the opening minute of the second period. Oliver Moore picked up his first NHL point by finding Nazar in the slot, where he swept home his eighth goal of the season. The Capitals knotted up the score by taking advantage of the fourth line getting stuck on the ice. Conor McMichael’s shot from the slot trickled between Knight’s legs, and defenseman Martin Fehervary crashed the net to push it over the goal line.

The Blackhawks responded with the go-ahead goal just 10 seconds later. Philipp Kursashev caused a turnover in the neutral zone, then drove to the net, putting home a rebound off Slaggert’s shot. Kurashev was only in the lineup because Lukas Reichel missed a team meeting this morning.

The Blackhawks couldn’t stay out of the penalty box in the third period, and it cost them. Dylan Strome was credited with the game-tying power-play goal after Connor Murphy accidentally backhanded the puck into his own net. Less than three minutes later, Ovechkin tied Gretzky with a goal he’s scored hundreds of times in his legendary career.

To Ovechkin’s credit, he refused to take the ice with Knight pulled, as he did not want to break the record with an empty-net goal. Instead, Ryan Leonard scored his first NHL goal into the vacated net to ice the game. Ovechkin had three good looks in the final minute, but history will have to wait at least one more game. The Capitals will play the New York Islanders on Sunday at 11:30 am.

The Blackhawks showed their respect for Ovechkin by staying on the ice after the game and shaking his hand. He may not have broken Gretzky’s record tonight, but he scored his 136^th game-winning goal, passing Jaromir Jagr for the most in NHL history.

Another Impressive Showing from the Kids

We’ve talked for weeks about how different this team has become with the influx of young talent. They are faster, more exciting, and fearless on the ice. This was the second straight game where the Blackhawks went toe-to-toe with a Stanley Cup contender, only to blow a third-period lead.

Moore, Nazar, and Slaggert factored in all three Blackhawks goals. Nazar had four scoring chances, while Slaggert had three. Moore recorded his first two NHL assists, playing the role of facilitator. According to Hockey Stat Cards, the analytics matched the eye test, as this trio were the best players in white tonight.

It was good to see Slaggert bounce back with arguably his best game of the season following one of his worst performances on Wednesday. This is the luxury interim head coach Anders Sorensen has over the last few weeks of the season. The young players have much longer leashes since the season is lost than if they were playing with the team in October. They are being allowed to make mistakes and get right back on the ice to show they’ve learned their lessons.

While the wins and losses don’t matter, these are some of the most important games of the rebuild. The young Blackhawks are coming up short, but these outings are helping them learn how to finish games and win in the NHL. They will figure it out. When this core is good, and the team is contending for a playoff spot, they can look back on the final month of the 2024-25 season as a vital time in their development.

Odds & Ends

• Knight had his second straight strong game. Unfortunately, he only has one point to show for it. He had his best moments in the final minute of the night when Ovechkin was primed to score the record-breaking goal.
• Bertuzzi had one of his best games in quite some time. He was noticeable and effective from his first shift until the final horn. His line with Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen was the best on the team, with a Corsi for percentage (CF%) of 65.0. They created eight scoring chances while allowing only two. Bertuzzi was even rewarded with a couple of shifts on the top line with Ryan Donato and Connor Bedard. He now has five seasons of at least 21 goals. His career high was set with the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22 when he scored 30 goals.
• Congratulations to Joe Veleno on playing his 300^th NHL game tonight.
• Finally, I wanted to give a stick tap to the Capital One Arena DJ for playing “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd after Leonard’s goal. That was a nice shoutout to his time with Team USA at the World Junior Championship.