Sometimes you just have to give it up to greatness.
Even the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, stood in salute to “Great 8,” Alex Ovechkin, after the Washington Capitals star scored two goals to tie Gretzky’s NHL record 894 career goals Friday night at Capital One Arena.
The Chicago Blackhawks could do no less, standing in line after a 5-3 loss as each congratulated Ovechkin on a historic milestone.
During a postgame rinkside interview, Ovechkin thanked family, fans, teammates and, of course, Gretzky.
“It’s a huge honor,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a historical moment. … It means a lot, to be honest with you, I don’t know what to say, but I got so emotional.”
Going into the game, it felt like the Hawks – the league’s second-worst team facing the league’s second-best — would be mere supporting cast members in The Ovechkin Show.
OK, more like extras.
But the Hawks fought tooth and nail against Ovechkin’s bid to make history, particularly goalie Spencer Knight, who refused to yield a record-breaking goal (and hat trick) to Ovechkin despite some nail-biting chances late in the third period.
And for the most part, a young defense wasn’t overwhelmed by the moment. With one exception — 32-year-old Connor Murphy — Hawks defensemen ranged in age from 19 to 23.
Still, the 39-year-old Ovechkin, his beard turned salt and pepper, showed his wily ways.
When Hawks defenseman Alex Vlasic drifted below the goal line to challenge ex-Hawk Dylan Strome, Ovechkin shifted back deeper into the right circle to give himself plenty of space for a one-timer off Strome’s low-to-high pass.
Knight couldn’t do much to stop Ovechkin’s banger off the far post and Knight’s back for the game’s opening goal 3 minutes, 52 seconds into the first period.
Ovechkin notched the record-tying goal on a third-period power play after Connor Bedard was called for holding Ryan Leonard.
John Carlson took a centering pass from Andrew Mangiapane, but there was no way Carlson was taking that shot. Somehow, the Hawks had let Ovechkin leak out behind Frank Nazar to the left circle, where he’s done so much damage over the past two decades.
One-timer. Off the dot. Classic Ovechkin.
“It happened fast,” Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “Carlson made a heck of a play. He was coming down the pipe and elected to pass. Pretty good guy to pass to.”
It wasn’t just Ovechkin who spoiled any hopes of an upset — the Hawks did just enough damage to themselves.
During a third-period penalty kill, Murphy swept a goal into his net while trying to locate Strome’s shot after it bounced off his skate. (If there’s a silver lining, Murphy at least robbed Ovechkin’s waiting stick.)
The Hawks ruined an empty-net opportunity, winning the offensive-zone faceoff but lacking urgency to grab the puck.
Nazar backed off of it, and Artyom Levshunov failed to get to it before Leonard seized and took off for an empty-net goal, his first in the NHL (he received a handshake and congratulations from Gretzky later in the locker room).
“We pull the goalie, we win the faceoff and they got right by us,” Sorensen said.
Ovechkin stayed off the ice during the empty net because he didn’t want a cheap record-breaker.
“Congrats to Ovi, it was an unbelievable accomplishment,” Sorensen said. “But we were here to win the game, and we didn’t do that.”
Here are three takeaways.
1. Ovechkin’s hunt, billed as “The Gr8 Chase,” moves to New York.
His next chance to score No. 895 and take over as history’s top goal scorer will come on the road Sunday against the New York Islanders.
At least the Hawks can say it didn’t happen on their watch, but not for a lack of trying.
Ovechkin was credited with just three shots on goal, but he had six others that missed wide. And that’s not to mention the other times his teammates went looking for him but couldn’t connect.
On one of those chances, credit Kevin Korchinski, who rode Ovechkin’s hip on what looked like a surefire backdoor opportunity for the record-breaker.
2. It was Oliver Moore’s turn to shine.
Sam Rinzel hogged the spotlight when he and Moore made their NHL debuts together Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club (remember the spin move he put on Kevin Stenlund?).
Meanwhile, Moore had a more subdued game against Utah and didn’t have a single shot attempt against the Colorado Avalanche. But on Friday night, Moore earned his first two NHL points.
He assisted on Nazar’s goal — working a give-and-go with him in the second period — as well as Philipp Kurashev’s goal later in the period.
Moore also looked like the Hawks’ best forechecker in the second.
3. Kurashev is up while Lukas Reichel is down — again.
The two have had their days on the coaching staff’s bad side this season, but Kurashev had a shining moment in the second period.
Shortly before his goal, he stripped Mangiapane in the neutral zone and slid baseball-style in front of ex-Hawk Taylor Raddysh to score off Landon Slaggert’s rebound (one of his two assists) to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.
Meanwhile, Reichel had played 16 straight games but found himself scratched for the first time since Feb. 27.
“It was disciplinary,” Sorensen said. “Missed a meeting this morning. … Learning lesson. Got to be a pro.”
