‘It’s a miracle’: Alex Ovechkin in disbelief after passing Gordie Howe

‘It’s a miracle’: Alex Ovechkin emotional after passing Gordie Howe originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

WASHINGTON — Locked into a tie with Gordie Howe for the second-most goals in NHL history, Alex Ovechkin tried to pass up the chance at a free goal.

The Winnipeg Jets pulled their goaltender down 3-1 with 2:53 to play and lost the puck a few minutes later. Ovechkin wound up with it at the point, getting a clean look at the net. And he passed it. Evgeny Kuznetsov would have none of that, however, sending it right back to set up his teammate for the most historic goal of his career: No. 802.

“You never thought it’s going to happen when you came into the league, you’re going to beat any Gordie Howe record or Wayne Gretzky record or any record,” Ovechkin said after the game. “You felt like, OK, maybe you’re going to play in the NHL, you’re going to be good and you’re going to try to do your best, but the whole situation happening right now, it’s a miracle. You know, it’s pretty special.”

For five games, the entire hockey world stopped and held its breath each time Ovechkin approached the net. He went scoreless during a three-game homestand and then again on Thursday in Ottawa. No one wanted to be on the wrong side of history. But eventually, Ovechkin was going to break through.

With a rowdy crowd of Capitals fans watching on, Ovechkin scored two goals Friday to move past Howe on the all-time goals list. Wayne Gretzky is the only player left in front of him, holding the NHL’s most prestigious record with 894 career goals. The 37-year-old sat down for his postgame press conference with his sons Sergei and Ilya holding the two pucks.

“Very emotional,” Ovechkin said of passing Howe. “My parents watched it from home. My wife is here, kids here, friends. Doing it with the home crowd, it’s special. They give me full support, and this is pretty big. It’s a historic moment. It’s nice to be in this category of players. It’s pretty cool.”

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Though there was still a minute left to be played in the contest, the entire arena paused to recognize Ovechkin for his historic feat. The Capitals played a video on the Jumbotron showing the late Howe’s son Mark congratulating him and wishing him luck in his quest to catch Gretzky.

“I’m here on behalf of Gordie Howe, the guy you just passed, and from mother Colleen and the entire Howe family, we just want to congratulate on what a fantastic achievement,” Howe said. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch you play so many games as a scout and you’ve been a pleasure to watch.

“You’re one of very few people in this game to me that they bring a wow factor. You embrace the fans. You’re everything that my mother and father would be very proud of and I know if they were here today, they would be at this hockey game. They’d be the first ones to congratulate you. So, on behalf of the Howe family, we want to say congratulations and a job well done and now it’s time to set new goals for No. 99. Congratulations.”

The Jets recognized the magnitude of the achievement as well. They lined up after the final horn to shake Ovechkin’s hand, something typically not seen in hockey until the playoffs.

Head coach Peter Laviolette noted after the game that Ovechkin seems to set some kind of record every night. Just on Thursday, he set a new record for the most shots on goal. Yet this one was different. No. 802 launched Ovechkin into a new tier of hockey royalty.

“I don’t want to say once in a lifetime, but moments like that in hockey rarely come up and you pause the game to honor somebody for such a special achievement,” Laviolette said. “What he has been able to accomplish here in Washington is truly unbelievable. He got an opportunity on a night like tonight to just again pause the game and take a moment and just honor that moment of what happened is pretty special.”