Alex Ovechkin‘s story this season has been about being in the right place at the right time. And the NHL all-time goals leader didn’t deviate from that when his team needed it the most during their first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. A season in which The Gr8 achieved the biggest milestone of his NHL career, his 152nd playoff game, marked yet another achievement.

“Now he has that playoff overtime goal. What else can he do?” the announcer literally screamed as the 39-year-old scored his first overtime goal in a playoff game. Heading into the game, the Russian icon had 72 goals over 151 games. The Capitals captain, however, had never clinched a game for his team in overtime. So the overtime goal that came at 2:26 of overtime was quite an addition to his record of most game-winning goals.

Yet, Alex Ovechkin couldn’t have done it without Anthony Beauvillier. The Capitals forward played a stellar game of hockey, scoring the Capitals’ second goal of the night before Montreal’s comeback. It was a happy (read: hockey) coincidence that he was the one who notched an assist in helping Ovi score the winning goal. What’s more? Beauvillier nearly became the man to seal the deal himself.

Beauvillier capitalized on Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov failing to clear the puck to take a shot at the goal. While Sam Montembeault‘s quick reflexes kicked in to stop that goal, the 27-year-old tracked the rebound and spotted Ovechkin standing right in front of the net. One precise assist later, the sharpshooter buried the puck in the back of the net.

The game-winning goal wasn’t Alex Ovechkin’s only contribution to the game. The Washington Capitals captain opened the scoring for the night, as he continues to add to his goal-scoring record after surpassing Wayne Gretzky‘s 894-goal record. That and the overtime goal took his career playoff goals tally to 74 and brought him on par with Joe Pavelski for the 13th-most career playoff goals. To say his teammates were grateful for their captain’s inspiring performance would be an understatement.

Alex Ovechkin keeps adding to his stats

Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson, who had the perfect night before conceding two quick goals, had the highest praise for his captain. “The guy’s the best player in the world. What else can you say?” Thompson said. “He comes in clutch. All game. It’s a privilege to be his teammate.” added the goalie, who made 33 saves in Game 1.

And it’s not difficult to see why the goaltender would have such high praise for Ovechkin. Besides helping the Capitals start off the 2024-25 NHL playoffs on the right foot, Ovechkin keeps adding to the all-time goals record. The OT goal was also special in other ways. It helped Alex Ovechkin notch his 10th multi-goal performance in his playoff career.

At 39 years and 216 days, Ovi also became the fourth-oldest hockey player to score an OT playoff goal, as per ESPN. The oldest? The Red Wings’ Igor Larionov, who scored a triple overtime goal against the Carolina Hurricanes. And that came in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup finals, no less. Yet, despite a night of achievements for the record-breaking scorer, the Canadiens nearly succeeded in stunning the Capitals. Captain Nick Suzuki and winger Cole Caufield took a little over 5 minutes to level the playing field in the third period.

Logan Thompson gave props to the Montreal Canadiens for their tenacity. “In the third, they didn’t go away. We’ve got to respect them. They took it to us in the third,” said the Capitals’ goalie. While the Canadiens ultimately lost the game, they showed they have what it takes to bring the heat against Alex Ovechkin & Co. With the best-of-7 series just getting underway, it’s safe to say anything can happen in the coming weeks.