New York Islanders fans, known for their passion and, let’s say, the…erm…opposite of sportsmanship when it comes to losses, proved just how much they’ve evolved during the legendary game against the Washington Capitals this Sunday. When Alex Ovechkin scored, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, there was an unexpected level of celebration from the Islander fans that had some onlookers at a loss for words.

“I thought the Islander fans were fantastic. We have seen over the years the Islander fans not being entirely welcome in certain situations, like John Tavares’ return, but on this one, they rose to the moment, and they were spectacular,” said Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

‘Spectacular!’ Quite a weighty word to describe the fans with a reputation for being salty. They were spectacular on Sunday with Alex Ovechkin, but remember John Tavares? If you recall, there were fires in the parking lot of the Nassau Coliseum, jerseys being run over; it looked like a riot could break out any second. And all because Tavares had left the Islanders for the Maple Leafs.

Fans greeted their former captain with a chorus of jeers, including the infamous “Thankssss for nothing, Pajama Boy” sign, and let’s not even mention the hot dogs. Well, I suppose now we have to mention the hot dogs. But, yes, hot dogs were thrown at Tavares jerseys that were duct taped to the tarmac. There was more—cars were instructed to run over the jerseys multiple times for good measure. Effigies were burned. One fan seemingly professionally swapped out certain letters on his Tavares #91 jersey so it would spell “Traitor.” Yes, it was, in short, a lot.

But on Sunday, Islanders fans seemed completely transformed, with some of them even participating in the chants of ‘Ovi, Ovi‘ that echoed through the stadium. And when Alex Ovechkin scored that decisive goal, many fans clad in the orange and blue of the Islanders could be seen jumping and clapping in the stands. Even on the broadcast, there was not a trace of booing, just appreciation.

After all, this was a moment that transcended even hockey rivalries. To watch Alex Ovechkin make history in person… how can you do anything but cheer? But while the fans at the Nassau Coliseum were all enthusiasm, the social media team was keeping things more subdued.

Celebrations at the Nassau Coliseum and deadpan humor outside of it

After giving Isles fans their well-deserved appreciation, Elliotte Friedman went on to discuss their funny moment on social media. “And I have to say, it was as if Lou Lamoriello wrote and pushed send on the tweet itself, ‘Washington goal 2-1 Islanders.’ That was beautiful; in the middle of all that craziness, that was such a perfect Lou Lamoriello team tweet… I didn’t see it initially…and when I saw it, I laughed as hard as I did at anything all weekend; it was just perfect.”

The tweet in question was posted by the Isles on X and simply read: “WSH goal. 2-1 #Isles,” after Alex Ovechkin scored. Perfectly appropriate for the occasion, am I right? The tweet sounded like typical Lou Lamoriello, known for his reserved personality, just underplaying the legendary moment to perfection. Co-host of the 32 Thoughts podcast Kyle Bukauskas chimed in with, “The thing about that tweet, it wasn’t even ‘WASHINGTON,’ it was just ‘WSH goal 2-1.’”

Unintentional or not, it was nevertheless hilarious to see the history-making moment reduced to just “WSH goal.” But the Islanders didn’t leave it at that, following up with a more celebratory tweet. The team retweeted the NHL’s announcement of Alex Ovechkin’s 895th goal, with the caption, “Congrats on an amazing accomplishment, Ovechkin!” The account then tweeted a photograph of Ovechkin and fellow countryman Ilya Sorokin as they hugged on the ice. Sorokin even gifted Ovechkin the stick that was used by the goaltender when the latter scored the record-breaking goal.

And it didn’t stop there. Friedman also said on the podcast that,”Sergei Kucherov, who’s the long time media relations guy for the Capitals, he thanked the Islanders and Kim Brower, longtime media guy for all of their help on Sunday.” So the Islanders extended their grace even behind the scenes, which can only mean one of two things: 1. People are essentially good and capable of positive change. And 2. No Islanders fan owned an Alex Ovechkin jersey to throw hotdogs at.

Either way, what a show!