When Alex Ovechkin passed Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky for most NHL goals all time, he celebrated by giving the hockey world a belly flop for the ages at UBS Arena. It became so iconic the Washington Capitals decided to immortalize it on rally towels for fans at the very next home game.

But the Capitals captain admitted that’s not at all how he intended to celebrate his legendary achievement.

“Ice was bad today, so I fell,” he told reporters post game. “I’m pretty sure it’s a pretty cool moment. It was cool.”

Ovechkin’s teammate, Pierre-Luc Dubois, confirmed that account in a French-language interview with TVA Sports released Monday.

“The funniest thing about all this is that after he scored the goal, his celebration [the dive] wasn’t what he wanted to do at all. He fell!” Dubois said to TVA Sports in French as translated by Google Translate. “When he got up, we were all already on top of him, so he couldn’t celebrate like he wanted to.”

As seen in video Caps fans have likely viewed hundreds of times over, Ovechkin went chest first onto the ice after beating New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin with a trademark power play rip from the top of the left circle in the second period. He was quickly swarmed by elated teammates clamoring off the bench at center ice.

Ovechkin finished the 2024-25 campaign with 897 goals and is poised to become the first player in NHL history to score 900 once the 2025-26 season gets underway. Dubois, on the other hand, is looking to remain consistent after logging more than 60 points for the first time since 2022-23.

“The NHL isn’t easy,” the 27-year-old Quebec native explained via Google translation. “I’ve played for several teams and for different coaches, and sometimes an opportunity with one team is different than with another, so the results can be different. There are a lot of things you can’t control in hockey and it can be frustrating, but you have to keep working hard.”

Dubois landed in D.C. via trade last offseason and made the most of the opportunity. His 66 points (20g, 46a) were the most he’s totaled in a single campaign during his eight-year career.

“For me, coming to Washington and having this opportunity, having a group of coaches and players who had confidence in me, it was a gift,” he continued. “And all I could do last year was give them that confidence again.”

Dubois’ immediate impact impressed head coach Spencer Carbery, who had nothing but praise for the Capitals centerman after the season ended.

“I was confident that he was going to be a good player for us, but you never know,” he said in May. “The level that he played at consistently night to night was tremendous. Coming in and being able to play the center ice position and really stabilizing a matchup and all the different things that he provided our lineup up front was significant.”

Dubois is signed on for another six seasons at an $8.5 million cap hit, and his contract, in an exponentially growing salary cap landscape, could be a real asset to a Capitals team seeking to stay competitive in a post-Ovechkin era. The long-term deal will keep him in DC through the 2030-31 campaign.