Greatest Moments of NHL Season … So Far: second round, matchup 15

The 2019-20 NHL season had many incredible moments before it was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, and now fans can decide which one was the best.

The Greatest Moments of the NHL Season ... So Far is down to 32 entries from the original bracket of 64 with the first round now complete. Fans will vote on one matchup per day, ultimately deciding the greatest moment up until this point.

Fans can vote on Twitter and Instagram each day from noon until 10 a.m. ET the next day. Each day, the winner of that matchup will be revealed, and a new set of moments will go head-to-head.

Though fans will have the ultimate say, two NHL.com staffers will weigh in on each day's matchup to give his or her opinion on which one should advance to the third round.

In the matchup Friday, David Ayres serving as the emergency backup goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes defeated Mika Zibanejad's five-goal game for the New York Rangers.

The matchup Saturday pits Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk being interviewed by his father against Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scoring his 700th NHL goal.

William Douglas, staff writer

Ovechkin is one of the most exciting players in the NHL, but for me nothing matches the exuberance, warmth and love exhibited when DeBrusk was interviewed by his father, Louie DeBrusk, a retired NHL forward who is a Sportsnet color analyst, before the Bruins faced the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Feb. 19. Louie was one of the tougher players in the NHL, with 1,161 penalty minutes in 401 games in 11 seasons with the Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, but he was a parent-proud softie when he quizzed his kid. Jake tried but couldn't keep a grin off his face during the interview, especially when he chirped his dad when he asked about whether it was good to be home in Edmonton. "It's nice to see the friends and the family. I kind of get sick of my dad's hunting stories, that's why I think it's a little sketchy," the younger DeBrusk said. Dad responded by perhaps half-jokingly telling his 6-foot, 188-pound son, who has 35 points (19 goals, 16 assists) in 65 games this season, to "get the feet going, I don't want to have to say bad things about you tonight." It wasn't the usual rinkside "one shift, one game at a time" pregame fare. It was a warm hockey-family, dinner-table chat instead.

Tim Campbell, staff writer

Ovechkin did his talking with his stick Feb. 22, connecting for his 700th NHL goal in his usual manner: a hard, accurate, one-time shot past New Jersey Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. It was one of the most anticipated moments of the season, given Ovechkin's steady march to higher and higher numbers in every statistical category. This particular milestone earned extra attention, of course for its importance, but also because he was stalled right before he reached it. As the talk of reaching 700 goals intensified, Ovechkin went five games without a goal, his longest in more than a year, before scoring No. 699 against the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 20. Once that business was out of the way, Ovechkin resumed his climb by scoring at 4:50 of the third period against the Devils, and how he celebrated No. 700 was so much like all the others that preceded it, with energy, elation and obvious joy. The fact that 700 is a lot of goals, multiplied by that enthusiasm for each of them, gives you a moment that should be difficult to eclipse in this entire bracket.