Ovechkin 'will think about' 1 more year with Capitals after season concludes

WASHINGTON -- “One more year!”

That was the chant from the crowd at the beginning, in the final minutes, and even after the final horn sounded to signal the Washington Capitals’ 3-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on Sunday.

It was directed, of course, at Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who was the center of attention throughout what might have been his final home game in the NHL. The 40-year-old left wing has played 21 NHL seasons, all for the Capitals, and is the League’s all-time leader with 929 goals, including a team-leading 32 this season.

So, why not come back for one more year?

“I will think about it,” Ovechkin said.

That’s been Ovechkin’s consistent message. He still needs to think about it and plans to do so after the season is over. 

For now, his focus is on, hopefully, playing one more meaningful game in the Capitals’ regular-season finale at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN) and somehow pulling off a miracle to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Washington (42-30-9) stayed alive by getting its third straight win Sunday to climb within one point of the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers have a game in hand, though, and if they defeat the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, the Capitals will be mathematically eliminated, making the game in Columbus meaningless for them standings-wise.

Whether it will be Ovechkin’s final NHL game is another question.

“Well, we’re in a battle for a playoff spot,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t think about what’s happening in a week or tomorrow. We just have to concentrate on this game.”

Regardless, everything Sunday seemed geared toward this potentially being Ovechkin’s final game in this arena, from the Ovechkin “GR8NESS” rally towels each fan received, to the Capitals ice crew and the “Mites on Ice” players wearing yellow skate laces, like Ovechkin, as a tribute to him. 

It was also Ovechkin’s 100th game, including the playoffs, against longtime rival Sidney Crosby. The Penguins (41-24-16) are locked into second place in the Metropolitan, so they rested a host of regulars, including Crosby and Ovechkin’s longtime friend Evgeni Malkin, for the first game of this home-and-home series on Saturday, which the Capitals won 6-3. 

Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, and Ovechkin, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, have had some memorable battles over the past 21 seasons, but have formed a friendship in recent years. So, Crosby said he “definitely wanted” to play Sunday, “because of the potential, and obviously we don't know,” what Ovechkin is going to decide. 

“As competitors, as athletes, it’s been pretty cool to be able to be part of some big games and that rivalry,” Crosby said. “That’s something that obviously a lot of people have watched and cheered for. Whether you cheered for or against, or whatever it was, it’s something that has been special over that time period and something that I appreciate and hopefully everybody appreciates.”

During pregame warmups, Ovechkin posed for a photo with Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang, who have been Penguins teammates for 20 seasons. Then, he took one with just him and Crosby.

The crowd greeted Ovechkin with a loud ovation and chants of “O-vi! O-vi!" when he was the last to be introduced in the Capitals’ starting lineup. Ovechkin waved his stick in acknowledgement.

“The fans always support me, support the organization, team, the boys,” he said. “It was loud. It was the energy (that) we need.” 

Capitals center Dylan Strome intentionally got himself tossed from the opening face-off --- he said referee Chris Rooney suggested it -- so Ovechkin could take it against Crosby. The fans cheered with delight, even though Crosby won the face-off cleanly. 

“Obviously, I’m not a face-off guy,” Ovechkin said. “But was trying out there to win.”

That went for the game as well. Ovechkin made it clear early that he wasn’t there for a going away party, delivering a big hit on each of his first three shifts, including one on Letang.

“That's what he said all along,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “It’s about us finding a way to get two points tonight and stay in this race. So, he was doing everything he possibly could.”

After Trevor van Riemsdyk gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with his rebound goal at 12:22 of the second period, that remained the score deep into the third. Connor McMichael finally gave Washington some breathing room by finishing a 2-on-1 with Ryan Leonard to make it 2-0 with 4:10 remaining.

When the Penguins pulled goalie Stuart Skinner for an extra attacker with Ovechkin on the ice, the fans applauded once again, hoping they’d see him score his 930th career goal. They had to settle for his 757th assist instead.

Ovechkin passed on a chance to shoot at the empty net and gave the puck to McMichael for the empty-net goal with 2:44 left.

“He was open,” Ovechkin said.

Another standing ovation for Ovechkin began as he headed to the bench at the end of his final shift with 21 seconds remaining and continued through the end of the game. The Penguins lingered at their end of the rink, waiting while Ovechkin and the Capitals celebrated their win, to pay their respects by lining up to shake his hand, in case this was their final game against him. 

Ovechkin had no interest in that, though, and waved to tell them to leave the ice.

“Because I don’t decide yet,” Ovechkin explained. “Thanks for them to wait out there, but I’m going to see Sid right now after the interview, and Geno, and we’ll talk.”

And as Carbery noted, this might not be the last Ovechkin sees of the Penguins. If the Capitals somehow pull off a miracle and qualify for the playoffs as the third-place team in the Metropolitan, they’d face the Penguins in the first round.

Ovechkin preferred that the attention be on that.

“We have attention the last couple weeks maybe because we need to win. We need to collect the points and obviously tonight was a huge win,” he said. “You can see everybody played hard. Everybody worked for the team, and it was a great team success.”