Ovechkin begins farewell tour with 'memorable' final home opener with Capitals

WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin has a lot of last times ahead of him this season and he is trying to take in as much from them as he can.

That was certainly the case for Ovechkin’s final home opener with the Washington Capitals, from the “special moment” of his sons introducing him during the pregame ceremony to the final buzzer of a 5-3 victory against the Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

“It's a memorable night,” Ovechkin said. “First game of the year at home, lots of fans, it was special.”​

The spotlight was squarely on Ovechkin to begin the game after he announced Monday that this would be his final season in the NHL. As captain, the 41-year-old left wing was the last Capitals player to be introduced during the pregame ceremony with his sons Sergei, 8, and Ilya, 6, doing the honors while standing in front of their father in the Zamboni entrance.

The sellout crowd of 18,347 fans roared with delight and chanted “Ovi! Ovi!” as they have so many times for Ovechkin, the NHL record-holder with 929 career goals.

“It's going to be lots of memories,” Ovechkin said. “It's going to be lots of fun when they grow up and we’re going to watch it together. It's pretty special.”

It seemed fitting this game was against Crosby and the Penguins. Ovechkin, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, and Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, each remain the headline attractions for their teams in their remarkable 22nd seasons.

“It’s consistency,” Ovechkin said. “We respect each other, and you can see like he still do lots of great things out there.”

But this 101st NHL game between them, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, was also an example of how times are changing. Neither Ovechkin nor Crosby had a point for only the 11th time in those 101 games and the first time since Feb. 23, 2021.

Taking the lead role for Washington in this game was the line of Alex Tuch (one goal), Pierre-Luc Dubois (one goal, one assist) and Tom Wilson (one goal, two assists), which combined for six points (three goals, three assists) while playing head-to-head against Crosby’s line for most of the game.

Crosby was on the ice for the Capitals’ first four goals, including Anthony Beauvillier's 23 seconds into the game, and had a minus-4 rating.

“‘Dubie’s line was so good tonight with Tuch and 'Willie' and just did such a good job of creating turnovers on the forecheck, putting their 'D' under pressure, holding onto pucks, had multiple long O-zone shifts,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “And it was against 87 (Crosby), so anytime that you can do those types of things consistently and win that matchup, it's a huge benefit for a team.”

Ovechkin appreciated this as much as anyone.

“Dubie’s line, I thought, today was flying,” he said.

Ovechkin understands at this point his career and on this Capitals team, with their improved forward depth after adding Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner in the offseason, that there are going to be more games, like Wednesday, when he plays a supporting role.

“I think it helps four lines to feel that sometimes when one line didn't play well, that another line step up,” he said. “All four lines were solid today. Of course, we have a couple mistakes, but mistakes are going to happen. So, good job by everybody.”

Still looking for his first goal of the season after three games, Ovechkin did help the offense by forcing the turnover that led to Beauvillier’s goal on the opening shift of game. And he still played 5:11 of Washington’s 7:13 of power-play time, but only 8:54 at even strength.

Ovechkin no longer plays the full two minutes on every power play, though. So, when the Nicholas Robertson's delay of game penalty at 6:47 of the first period, while Pittsburgh was already short-handed, gave Washington a 5-on-3 advantage for 44 seconds, Ovechkin left the ice because it was the second unit’s turn.

The second power-play unit was also on the ice when Ryan Leonard scored from Ovechkin’s usual spot in the left circle to increase the Capitals’ lead to 5-3 at 3:55 of the third period.

This was one of the things that Carbery talked about with Ovechkin this offseason – even before he decided to return for another season.

“I'm not going to say that he doesn't want to be out there and he's like, ‘Yay, thanks, ‘Carbs’ for calling me off,’” Carbery said. “That's not how it is. But he also is understanding of what we're trying to accomplish as a team and the great players that he has around him. So, anytime that I talk about ‘Here's why we're doing it, and here's the reason behind it, and here's why this is going to help our team.’ He's like, ‘I’m all in. I'll come off. Tell me when.’”

This is part of the plan for the Capitals that they hope will lead to more success through the long, 84-game regular season and, they hope, into the playoffs. They’re only three games into the season, but their play in those games (2-1-0), including this early-season victory against Crosby and rival Penguins (2-2-0), is evidence of their potential.

“For us and for me personally, I'm just taking it game by game,” Ovechkin said. “It's a huge rivalry. We take two points, and that's it.”