The Washington Capitals will complete their three-game west coast road trip with their only visit to SAP Center on Saturday. The Capitals will take on the San Jose Sharks, who they lost to 2-1 in overtime during their previous meeting at Capital One Arena on December 3.
The Capitals are coming off a 3-0 shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, where they failed to beat former netminder Darcy Kuemper with even a shot.
“Those nights happen,” Alex Ovechkin said to the media after Capitals practice on Friday. “Something not going your way. Obviously, they defensively play well. Don’t give us much, but overall, it’s a good lesson. If you’re looking in the big picture, those games are going to be like in the playoffs. It’s going to be small spaces. It’s not going to be lots of openings. You just have to get used to it. So it was a good lesson for us last night.”
Ovechkin is set to play his first game against 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini after missing the Capitals’ first game against the Sharks with a broken leg. Celebrini, who called Ovechkin “the best goal scorer of all time” last summer, can hardly wait to face off against a player he grew up watching.
“I’m super excited to play against him,” Celebrini said, per NHL.com. “To be able to play against him now is crazy.”
Ovechkin has continued to score at a breakneck pace even during his age-39 season, tying for sixth-most goals in the league this season (33) despite losing 16 games to injury. He now sits just 9 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record after scoring Sunday against the Seattle Kraken, hitting 1,600 NHL points with the same goal.
“He’s still one of the best players in the world,” Celebrini said of Ovechkin.
While Celebrini has been watching the Great Eight since he was a kid, the Capitals captain admitted he’s less sure what to expect from the 18-year-old rookie, especially since the Sharks forward plays on the West Coast. Celebrini has notched 49 points (20g, 29a) in 55 games during his rookie season in the NHL.
“To be honest with you, I don’t have lots of thoughts because I like don’t see all the highlights,” Ovechkin said. “He’s a talented guy. I wish him luck, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ovi did however offer advice to Celebrini saying “Just be yourself. Work hard. Be smart. Everything is going to be good.”
Per NHL.com’ Tom Gulitti, the game marks a rare time time in NHL history where first overall picks, 20 years or more apart, have played against each other. The only other time it happened in Ovechkin’s career was when he suited up for the only time against Mario Lemeiux — one of his heroes growing up — on November 22, 2005. The memory still felt special to Ovechkin even two decades later.
“Dream come true,” Ovechkin said of suiting up against Mario. “Obviously, NHL is one thing, but when you play against your idols, big names, it’s always memorable.”
Playing in San Jose also holds extra meaning for Ovechkin because the Sharks were his favorite team growing up.
“Back then, we don’t have a TV,” Ovechkin said in 2016 of his childhood in Russia. “We don’t have all the news, but what we heard of was the NHL. Of course, we knew Fedorov, Larionov, Lemieux, Gretzky, and you only watched on videotapes. You know, you buy in the store videotapes with highlights and the goals, like hits and fights and all of that kind of stuff. Obviously, like Lemieux, Iginla, those guys, you know, [Owen] Nolan. My favorite team was San Jose. I was cheering for them, especially when Nolan was there. … You grow up and you watch them and you want to be just like them.”
“Actually, it’s fun story,” Ovechkin continued. “One of my teammates back then wear the hat with a shark, and we were like, ‘What is it?’ Because we don’t know the team. He said it’s the team over in San Jose, so I have a hat, I have a hoodie and like a jacket. Ulf Dahlen, I remember, my dad gave me a jersey of Ulf Dahlen. It was on my wall. That was kind of fun.”
On Friday, Ovechkin called his fanhood of the Sharks as a teenager “good memories.” So, too, was his eventual first game playing against Nolan on January 1, 2007 during his second season in the NHL.
“I think he was in Arizona back then or Phoenix,” Ovechkin said. “That’s one of my sticks. So, it was a good memory.”
Ovechkin currently has 886 goals and is within single digits of Gretzky’s record. He was asked if he ever wondered how cool it might have been to break the NHL goals record in San Jose if he didn’t get hurt earlier in the year.
“I don’t know,” Ovechkin said before smiling. “No one knows.”
