Capitals’ Strome gets himself kicked out of faceoff so Ovechkin, Crosby can line up
In what could have not only been Alex Ovechkin’s final home game as a Washington Capital, but also his final game against long-time rival Sidney Crosby, it didn’t take long for a special moment to happen.
When the Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins squared off on Sunday afternoon, Crosby and Dylan Strome were set to take the opening faceoff. But Strome had other ideas, and proceeded to get himself kicked out of the faceoff so his linemate in Ovechkin could take the faceoff against Crosby.
Dylan Strome purposely got himself booted from the opening face-off so Ovi could take the draw against Sidney Crosby 🥹👏
Of course, Crosby being the competitive player that he always is, was fast off the draw and won the faceoff with ease.
This all comes in the final days of a season where Ovechkin’s future is unknown. The 40 year old is in the final year of a five-year contract with a $9.5 million cap hit, and set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. However, Ovechkin said in an interview on Wednesday that he’s undecided on if this will be his final NHL season. He has already surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record, doing so last season, and with one game remaining in his season, he currently sits at 929, so unless he’s motivated to reach 1,000 goals, there are no further milestones for him to hit as the best goal scorer of all time.
While the uncertainty surrounding Ovechkin’s future meant that the game couldn’t be entirely looked at as Ovechkin’s last home game or last game against Crosby, there were still various moments throughout the game where it was treated as such. The game was actually the 100th between Crosby and Ovechkin, so both players received a pregame standing ovation. Crosby was also going to have the Penguins stay on to shake Ovechkin’s hand, similar to what he had the Capitals do against the Los Angeles Kings with Anze Kopitar, but Ovechkin waived them off. Ovechkin was also named the first star of the game in celebration of his potential final home game.
Should this be Ovechkin’s final season, he retires with 929 goals, 757 assists and 1,686 points in 1,572 regular season games (plus whatever he gets in the Capitals’ season finale on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets), and 77 goals, 70 assists and 147 points in playoff 161 games. He finishes his career with a decorated trophy case, including a Calder Trophy, an Art Ross Trophy, three Hart Trophies, nine Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophies, a Conn Smythe Trophy and, most importantly, a Stanley Cup.
However, Tuesday may not be the end either, as with the Capitals’ 3-0 win over the Penguins, they are still in contention for the playoffs. They still need to win on Tuesday against Columbus and have the Philadelphia Flyers get no more than one point in their final two games to do so, but their season has yet to be officially over.