Despite Alex Ovechkin scoring twice on Spencer Knight at Capital One Arena Friday night, the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender found himself feeling grateful after the game. Because things could have been worse.
Ovechkin tallied career goal no. 893 on Knight in the first period. Then, the Capitals captain tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record of 894 in the third, ripping a one-timer from his office past the netminder on a power play. After Ryan Leonard scored an empty-net goal to make it 5-3, Ovechkin took the ice for the final 1:36 of the game to try and break Gretzky’s record with Knight back in net (Ovi didn’t want to score the record-breaking goal with an empty-netter). Ovechkin managed one shot on goal and had four individual shot attempts, but could not notch the hat trick.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Blackhawks hung around at center ice and formed a handshake line to congratulate Ovechkin. Knight, who was one of the final players in line, flashed a huge grin and gave Ovechkin a hug before giving him a parting message.
“Obviously, I gave him congrats and all that,” Knight said post-game to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope. “He was like, ‘Thanks, brother.’ I was like, ‘Thank you for not scoring the last one on me!'”
While 894 put Knight on highlight reels across the world this weekend, he felt lucky not to be the guy that surrendered Ovechkin’s 895th goal. The goalie who does that will be an answer to trivia questions and be shown in clips well into the future, a feat most others hope to avoid.
“I definitely didn’t want to be the guy that was going to be on highlights for the next 50 years getting scored on,” Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said in March.
“I hope he breaks it, but not against me,” Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen told NHL.com recently. “(Trevor) Zegras and [Sonny Milano], they scored the flip goal against me, and I think I’ve been in highlights all over the world after that. So, I’m not looking forward to being in the highlights again.”
As Ovechkin turns his attention to the New York Islanders on Sunday, he will face either fellow countryman Ilya Sorokin, whom he’s never scored on, or Marcus Hogberg. Former Capitals teammate Semyon Varlamov is currently on the Islanders’ long-term injured reserve.
Whoever faces Ovi in net on Sunday will have to stop a scorer that, despite being 39 years old, is playing some of the most inspired and best hockey of his career.
“He’s got a tremendous shot, right? He just finds pockets to get open,” Knight said. “I wasn’t around to see Gretzky play — I was a little too young — but you’ve got guys in this league also that you’ll think of down the road and you’ll tell your kids about. That’s our generation. It’s cool to see, and it’s great for the sport.”
