Ovechkin handling pursuit of Gretzky's record with 'such class,' Capitals coach says

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The number Alex Ovechkin wears on this back is also the number of goals the Washington Capitals left wing needs to break Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894.

As much as he loves the No. 8, though, Ovechkin says the record is not something he thinks about away from the rink or even heading into the Capitals' next game against the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, MNMT, SN360, TVAS).

"You're just focusing on different things," Ovechkin said Monday. "Tomorrow it's a new day. We're going to play against a good team fighting for the playoffs, so we concentrate on that."

Washington (44-15-8) returns home after winning twice during a three-game California road trip. Ovechkin did not score in the first two games of the trip before breaking through for his 887th NHL goal during the third period of a 5-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Ovechkin had four assists during the trip, so he was finding ways to contribute offensively, and even passed up a chance for an empty-net goal to feed Aliaksei Protas to complete his first NHL hat trick in a 7-4 victory at the Anaheim Ducks on March 10.

But there were times when the 39-year-old appeared to be pressing a little.

That seemed to be the case during a 3-0 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on March 13, when Ovechkin did not have a shot on goal for the first time since the season opener against the New Jersey Devils five months earlier, and was held without a shot attempt in the final two periods. There were also a couple of moments before he scored against the Sharks when Ovechkin mishandled the puck.

For the most part, though, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery thinks Ovechkin has handled the extra attention from the record chase well.

"You can tell certain moments of what's going on, but very rare, very rare," Carbery said. "When you're in the game, and he probably would say, 'It's no different for me,' but I can feel it and it's probably just a product of our guys and the excitement even for myself internally when he gets into scoring situations.

"But man, he's such a pro when he comes to this stuff and he's been down this road chasing different records, pressure, all this stuff. So, he handles it with such class and deflects it all and makes it more about what we're doing as a team."

Carbery has noticed some opponents being more focused on taking away Ovechkin as a scoring option as he's gotten closer to Gretzky. That appeared to be the case with the Kings, who paid particular attention to Ovechkin on the power play.

But Los Angeles defended well overall throughout that game, limiting Washington to 21 shots on goal, including 11 during final two periods. And Ovechkin has seen that kind of dedication to trying to prevent him from scoring many times through his 20 NHL seasons.

"He's one of the greatest goal-scorers, so if someone did that four seasons ago, you wouldn't be shocked," Carbery said. "Of course they overplayed or left the shooter alone and took away 'O.' But I can say this, and I don't know how teams will defend, pre-scout, what they're thinking in their locker rooms or what they're coaching or what they're talking about. I do think teams do not want to be the team that he scores on.

"Everybody appreciates the greatness of [Ovechkin] and you can feel it's a big, big deal to the entire League and the other 31 teams are all along for the ride and watching and paying close attention. But I promise you they do not want to be on the ice when [Ovechkin's] putting it in the back of the net. I know that for a fact."

Regardless, it appears inevitable that Ovechkin will surpass Gretzky eventually. The biggest question is if he'll do it this season.

The Capitals have 15 games remaining.

"Well, guys, it's how I said," Ovechkin said. "We concentrate game by game and we'll see what happens."