“I wanted to give [T.J.] an opportunity to come out here and experience this,” Victor said.
“It was awesome,” T.J. said. “It’s so cool that he broke the record. I remember for my 6th birthday I got a book of Top 10 NHL records and Gretzky’s record was second on the unbreakable record list. And [Ovechkin] broke it. It’s insane.”
The two plan to be at the Capitals game against the Columbus Blue Jackets next Saturday.
Another Capitals fan, 6-year-old Easton Carter, has been following the team for his entire life. One could say his fandom spans longer than that, even.
Back in 2018, when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup, Easton was not quite born yet (Almost, his mom said), but his parents were watching the championship run intently.
“So we’ve been big fans,” said Easton’s dad Alex Carter. “He was almost named Evgeny.”
After former Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, of course.
Easton and his dad made their way from Brooklyn to the arena on Sunday, along with some of Easton’s school friends. The trip to the game has been planned since November, Carter said.
“We were thinking it was a great afternoon, weekend game that wouldn’t keep the kids up late,” Carter said. “We were watching and tracking the numbers and the stars just aligned that we had these tickets for this game.”
“I felt really happy because [Ovechkin] got us on the scoreboard,” Easton said, while wearing his Ovechkin jersey. “It was awesome to see Ovi score a goal because I really like Ovi. I go to ice skating classes and wear my Ovi jersey all the time. It’s really good that Ovi scored to beat the record of Wayne Gretzky.”
The Carter family is originally from D.C. but now lives in New York City, making the commute to the arena fairly easy.
“The best part is having the kids here, with my son and catching it on video,” Carter said. “Years to come we can talk about being at this exact game together.”
For another father-son duo, Sunday marked the 30th Capitals game they’ve been to together this season. Undoubtedly, this one sticks out.
“It’s special to be here, with my son in particular,” said Matthew David, a Capitals fan from New York. “He put it all together. He’s the driving force behind the fandom. We’re huge Caps fans and witnessing history like this is like watching Hank Aaron hit 755. It’s just pretty amazing.”
David and his son live in D.C, but he grew up on Long Island and still has family in the area. So, the two drove up Saturday, met with family, then on Sunday took the train to UBS Arena for the game.
They were in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday, a game in which Ovechkin scored, then saw him tie the record in D.C. on Friday. They couldn’t miss this one on Long Island.
“It’s just been magic,” said Kevin Boyle, David’s son. “To finally see all that come together was just absolutely wonderful. I just jumped out of my seat. I was so excited. I lost my mind.
“How can you not be romantic about hockey?” Boyle said.
