“Ovi, thank you for introducing us to your team,” McAfee said after everyone got their camera time. “You guys are a really good team this year.”
McAfee and Ovechkin went on to talk about breaking the record, and how his teammates helped push him to history.
“That’s why I introduced my team,” Ovechkin told McAfee. “Because without them I never would’ve reached that milestone and I never would’ve reached that great accomplishment.”
McAfee – from Pittsburgh, PA – brought up his fandom for the Penguins, leading into a conversation about Ovechkin’s relationship with a fellow NHL legend in Sidney Crosby.
“The first couple of years was not that good, but right now we talk, congratulate each other if we hit some milestones,” Ovechkin said. “Those relationships … in hockey and outside of hockey it a totally different thing. We’re going to have a game in three days between us and Pittsburgh and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a battle because it’s still a rivalry. But after the game we always talk. We have respect for each other.”
The Capitals are on their way to New York for Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders. The team finishes its regular season in Pittsburgh against the Penguins on Thursday before shifting focus to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
