On Saturday, San Jose Sharks rookie goalie Georgi Romanov was forced into cleanup duty against the Washington Capitals.
Romanov made just his third appearance in the NHL, all coming in relief. The 25-year-old doesn’t have an NHL start, but that didn’t stop Alex Ovechkin from making even more history. Romanov became the 217th netminder that the Great Eight has played against.
In the third period, Ovi put the game away by scoring his 34th goal of the season on a between-the-legs deflection to make it 5-1.
An Ovi goal on the Cali trip was inevitable pic.twitter.com/YUK3kvFhHr— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 15, 2025
Romanov is the 182nd goalie that Ovechkin has scored on. He has 887 goals in his career and is just eight goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky and becoming the all-time NHL goals leader.
The SAP Center sold out on Saturday afternoon, with a crowd of 17,435 San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals fans. After the goal, there were several extra cheers as Ovechkin inched closer to history. At the end of the Twitter video below, chants of “OVI OVI” can be heard.
The "OVI!" chants in a road barn will simply never get old#Gr8Chase pic.twitter.com/lr9XmFCBmL— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 16, 2025
“It’s great. Lots of people are now watching and lots of attention. It’s a great feeling,” Ovechkin said postgame.
Gretzky will follow Ovechkin when he gets to be five goals from the record. Gordie Howe did the same as Gretzky approached him to become the goals leader.
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