How Ovechkin scored his 900th also was a bit unexpected. It didn’t come on one of his trademark one-timers from the left circle or his lethal wrist shot. It was a spin-around backhand from the bottom of the right circle.
“But I’ll take it, and it is what it is,” Ovechkin said. “Sometimes you have a great opportunity to score, and the goalie make a save or you miss the puck or you miss the net and whatever.”
Ovechkin started the play that led to his 900th after Blues goalie Jordan Binnington tried to pass the puck from behind his net into the right corner. Ovechkin batted the puck down out of mid-air, curled out of the corner and slid a backhand pass to defenseman Jakob Chychrun in the high slot.
Chychrun unleashed a wrist shot that went wide right of the net, but the puck caromed off the glass directly to Ovechkin at the bottom of the right circle. Ovechkin quickly spun and backhanded the puck toward the net. It sailed past Blues forward Nathan Walker and inside the right post before Binnington could slide over to stop it.
“It finds a way in, in true ‘O’ fashion,” Capitals coach Spencer Carberry said. “I think that’s among many qualities that he’s demonstrated over his career as a goal scorer, the different ways that he’s scored. That’s just another example of finding ways to score goals. Pucks hit things and get thrown to the net.
“Next thing you know, it’s in the back of the net and he’s got 900 goals in the NHL, which you just can’t wrap your head around that.”
Ovechkin banged the glass behind him with his left glove and stick before turning back toward his Capitals teammates, who piled off the bench to celebrate with him.
“I know it seems like, after the rodeo we’ve been on the last year or two, you get numb to it, but then it’s just — I don’t know,” said Carlson, who has been teammates with Ovechkin for 17 seasons. “You think about it, it’s just incredible what he’s done. Being alongside him for so long, you’ve seen just so many milestones, it’s insane the history that maybe will never be touched again.”