Chance Meeting – Few NHL players exercise much control over how their careers in the League unfold and play out – where they play, who they play with, who their teammates are. Over the course of his 20-season, 1,485-game NHL career, Ovechkin has had dozens of different teammates here in DC. Today, as he sits three goals away from becoming the NHL’s all-time goals leader, several high-profile former teammates – Nicklas Backstrom, Braden Holtby, Brooks Orpik, TJ Oshie, and Devante Smith-Pelley – congregated at MedStar Capitals Iceplex to watch him go through his morning skate paces.
After practice, a couple of his current teammates spoke eloquently about what the intersections of their careers and his have meant to them.
“I would say it's not something that I would have thought growing up would have been a possibility,” says Caps center Nic Dowd. “ I think it'll be something that, as I get older and I can reflect on, I think it'll mean more at that point, because I'll really understand the weight of the situation.
“Now, I get to come in every day, and I sit next to [Ovechkin in the MedStar locker room], and we chop it up. And did I ever think he wasn't going to get there? No, so, to me, it's just [a matter of] when and where, not if. But I think it's been really impressive just to be involved in some of the stuff on the ice, to know him off the ice, road trips. He's the greatest goal scorer of all time, and I was fortunate enough just to be a fly on the wall.”
Lars Eller is one of several players who have been teammates with Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, two players who entered the NHL at the same time and have had their careers unfold alongside each other as postseason and division rivals. It’s not something Eller takes lightly.
“I've had the pleasure and privilege of playing against them in their prime, and then with them, and in some pretty epic playoff series against the Penguins,” recalls the veteran center. “And it’s just been so cool. I remember seeing some of those playoff series on TV earlier in my career, after they broke in at the same time, a couple of years before I entered the League myself.
“And you’re just watching these guys, and they’re the two best players for two decades, and I get to play with them both. I’m smiling just thinking about it. And they’re pretty awesome personalities, too. Both of them are leaders and each in their own ways – they’re very different personalities – both great to be around.
“They give a lot of themselves, and they have given so much to the game, to their locker rooms, their organizations and their teammates. And they set the bar high for everybody, and it raises everybody, as humans and as players.”
Only a month shy of his own 36th birthday, Ovechkin is the only Capital who is older than Eller. And like the rest of us, he’s amazed at what Ovechkin is doing in this League as a 39-year-old.
“It sets the bar high again for players younger than him,” says Eller. “What's your excuse? He's still getting it done at 39, so he's found a way to adapt and be effective, even though, you know, there may be other parts of this game that have changed a little bit. The bottom line is he’s still scoring goals. It's impressive, and it's inspiring for other guys that are younger to say, ‘He can do it. Why can't I keep what I'm doing – what I'm good at – for as long as him? So, it's inspiring, and it just sets the bar high.”
Eller’s own career has been impressive. He’s the all-time leader among Danish-born players, one of only a handful of players to score in both his first and his 1,000th games in the League, he’s a Stanley Cup champion, and he played his 1,100th career game in Los Angeles less than a month ago.
He also scored a couple of the most important goals in Washington’s franchise history during the team’s 2018 run to the Stanley Cup championship, and being on the scoresheet along with Ovechkin on that June night in Vegas almost seven years ago will always rank high on his list of memories.
“It’s one of the best moments – and maybe the best moment – of my career,” he says. “Sharing the ice with him and with all of the guys on that team. That night, that year, and that series are memories I will cherish forever. And I’m just smiling thinking about it.”
Dear Landlord – It’s been a whirlwind of a week for the newest Capital, right wing Ryan Leonard. On Sunday, his Boston College team was eliminated from the NCAA postseason tournament. On Monday, he signed his entry level contract with the Capitals and met his new teammates when they arrived in Beantown to face the Bruins the next night.
On Tuesday, Leonard – a Massachusetts native – made his NHL debut against the Bruins with a host of his friends, family and college teammates on hand to witness the event. Wednesday in Carolina, he played his second NHL game and then flew back to his new “home” in Washington, where P-L Dubois is now housing the 20-year-old Leonard.
Thursday, Leonard was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, and he and his new landlord also went grocery shopping.
“It was a little bit different,” says Leonard of the first off day of his nascent NHL career. “I had to come here and actually do a little concussion baseline test, just to get that in the system. Then I went in the tubs, as you try to do that on days off. And then I'm living with Dubie on his third floor. So we some grocery shopping, and that was fun. And then I watched some TV at night.”
Leonard didn’t look out of place – or out of pace – in his first two showings at the NHL level. He was asked about the leap from college hockey to the NHL, and what the biggest adjustment is.
“Just the pace, honestly,” he says. “It's more just like treating every shift with more respect. I mean, you're going out with guys you’re line matching. I even said to Dubie last night, like we were watching a little bit of the Bruins and the Canadiens game, and I said, ‘I still can't put this into words; I played in that League two games already.’ It's just weird. But yeah, it's more just like getting more comfortable trusting myself a little bit more.”
Like most things in this game, it’s a process. And tonight, the process continues when a smaller host of friends and family are on hand in DC to witness his first NHL game in front of the home crowd.
“It should be a lot of fun," he says. "All I’ve heard are good things about the environment there, so I’m really excited for tonight.”
And as Leonard seeks to light the lamp for the first time at the NHL level, his most celebrated teammate is on the precipice of making history.
“I don’t get it, honestly,” says Leonard. “Just the way that he scores, it’s so fun to watch. He’s an idol of mine growing up, and just to be in the same locker room now, it’s just a dream come true.”
In The Nets – Friday morning, the Caps recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from AHL Hershey to fill in for Logan Thompson, who left Wednesday’s game in Carolina with an upper body injury.
“Logan will miss a little bit of time,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “I won’t call him day-to-day; he’s definitely going to miss a couple of games, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Charlie Lindgren starts for the Caps tonight against Chicago. Lindgren won in Boston on Tuesday, then played the final two periods in a loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina a night later. He’ll be in the crease for the third time in four nights tonight against the Hawks, seeking his 18th victory of the season.
Lifetime against Chicago, Lindgren is 3-1-0 with a shutout in four appearances – all starts – with a 2.01 GAA and a .937 save pct.
Chicago hasn’t confirmed a starting goaltender, but since coming to the Windy City from Florida in the Seth Jones swap, Spencer Knight has seen the lion’s share of the crease duty for the Hawks. Since coming to Chicago, Knight is 3-6-1 in 10 starts with a 3.10 GAA and an .892 save pct.
Lifetime against the Caps, Knight is 1-1-0 in three appearances – one start – with a 3.74 GAA and an .892 save pct.
In two career games against Knight, Ovechkin has scored twice on five shots. In one career game against Arvid Soderblom – Chicago’s other netminder – Ovechkin is without a goal on two shots.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Blackhawks might look on Friday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
21-Protas, 80-Dubois, 9-Leonard
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 16-Raddysh
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 24-McMichael
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
30-Shepard
Extras
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
72-Beauvillier
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
48-Thompson (upper body)
77-Oshie (back)
CHICAGO
Forwards
8-Donato, 98-Bedard, 95-Mikheyev
86-Teravainen, 91-Nazar, 59-Bertuzzi
84-Slaggert, 11-Moore, 23-Kurashev
17-Foligno, 90-Veleno, 77-Maroon
Defensemen
72-Vlasic, 6-Rinzel
44-Kaiser, 55-Levshunov
14-Korchinski, 5-Murphy
Goaltenders
30-Knight
40-Soderblom
Extras
38-Del Mastro
46-Crevier
73-Reichel
78-Brodie
Out/Injured
16-Dickinson (wrist)
25-Martinez (undisclosed)
28-Dach (upper body)
39-Brossoit (lower body)
