It’s Alex Ovechkin Appreciation Night!

21,852 Alex Ovechkin Bobbleheads Invade Capital One Arena

Ben SumnerMarch 21, 2023

94 1 minute read

Even though the Capitals have been losing lately and sold off expiring contracts at the trade deadline, there was a sense of excitement at Capital One Arena on Tuesday at the Capitals held a pre-game ceremony to congratulate Alex Ovechkin for his 802nd career goal, which he scored Dec. 23, to become the second all-time leader in NHL goals.

Fans filled the arena, got their Alex Ovechkin goal counter bobblehead – we estimate that 21,852 were made based on the number of boxes – and enjoyed the ceremony. Ovi’s family attended, and he was presented with:

A Tiffany crystal from the NHL
An autographed USSR stick from the 1974 series between Canada and the USSR, and the puck from Howe’s first goal in that series.
A custom necklace from Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie
A custom 800 trophy made of stainless steel and bronze from the Capitals
A painting of him and Gordie Howe, presented by Mark Howe.

The Caps all wore No. 8 jerseys during warm-ups.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets pretty much fell asleep during the ceremony, then gave up the first goal of the game to Ovechkin, though in a major plot twist, the goal was originally credited to Dylan Strome. Soon after, T.J. Oshie and Conor Sheary scored before Columbus made a game out of it, and ended up embarrassing the Caps, 7-6 in OT.

The goal gave Ovi 40 for the season, which is his league-leading 13th 40+ goal season of his career.