Rivalry or not, Alex Ovechkin's goal-record quest provides NHL interest for Pens fans

The 4 Nations Face-Off is complete. The Pittsburgh Penguins are in last place of the Metropolitan Division. So local hockey fans are going to have to get creative to sink their teeth into something with a little bit of importance surrounding the sport.

Well, Alex Ovechkin … I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but … a certain hockey city is turning its lonely eyes to you.

Indeed, for the next few weeks of hockey, the most interesting storyline is going to be tracking Ovechkin’s quest to break Wayne Gretzky’s career NHL goal-scoring record. The 39-year-old Russian winger has 882 goals for his career. He is now just 13 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s mark of 894.

And I think even Pittsburgh is ready to embrace the chase.

Despite the long-held rivalry between the Penguins and Capitals, and even the deep-rooted dislike some Pens fans have had for Ovechkin during the years, a lot of those tensions have cooled lately.

The stakes between the franchises have dialed down. They haven’t met in the playoffs since 2018. The Penguins haven’t even made the playoffs in two years. Also, as the Caps proved Saturday here with their 8-3 win at PPG Paints Arena, the two teams don’t even look like they are playing the same sport anymore.

There were more cheers than normal when Ovechkin flashed on the video board inside the arena during pregame skate. That was partially because there were quite a few Washington fans who scooped up seats from Penguins fans who were all too eager to sell their tickets and avoid potentially watching … um … what eventually happened.

But I didn’t hear close to as many boos as I used to hear when Ovechkin used to take the ice in Pittsburgh. Maybe that’s just out of respect for how he has gobbled up goals this year en route to Gretzky’s record. Maybe it’s just sort of an appreciation or respect akin to what we saw at the end of Mario Lemieux’s career when he got a standing ovation in Philadelphia during his final game there.

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Or, perhaps it’s that Ovechkin provides living, breathing nostalgia while he is still playing. Any Penguins fan who sees him on the ice is instantly transported back to happier times when he and Sidney Crosby were posting dueling hat tricks in the 2009 playoffs or the tension-packed postseason battles of 2016-18.

Plus, pfft! We moved on to hating Tom Wilson much more than Ovechkin a long time ago. Furthermore, we’re talking about a Wayne Gretzky record. To Pittsburghers, he’s just the guy who stole too much of the spotlight from Mario anyway.

Who cares if Ovechkin passes him, n’at? Am I right!?

This isn’t just a Pittsburgh-specific conversation, though. Ovechkin hasn’t exactly been Mr. Popularity in New York, Boston, Philadelphia or Tampa Bay either over the past few decades. But I’m willing to bet they are feeling exactly the same way in those other Eastern Conference rival cities.

Whether hockey fans want Ovechkin to break the record or not, they are certainly watching and paying attention. I’m sure plenty of fans internationally were stunned to see Washington score eight times in Pittsburgh on Saturday while Ovi was held without a goal.

I’m also sure they were less than stunned to see him bounce back with a hat trick against Edmonton on Sunday.

WHAT AN AFTERNOON FOR OVI ????

He scores his 32nd career hat trick to move within 13 of breaking Wayne Gretzky's record! #Gr8Chase

Hat Trick Challenge presented by @AstraZenecaUS pic.twitter.com/Pyq8kDp7z7

— NHL (@NHL) February 23, 2025

Ovi is up to 29 goals on the season in 41 games, seventh in the NHL. He has reached that point despite missing 16 games with a leg injury suffered on Nov. 18. Based on this season’s pace (via ESPN.com’s Stats and Info), coming out of the 4 Nations break, Ovechkin was en route to pass Gretzky on April 12 against Columbus. That date has been moved up in the wake of his hat trick to roughly April 1 in Boston, or April 2 in Carolina.

According to a USA Today post on Monday, “DraftKings has him at minus-160 odds to reach the milestone over the next 25 games before the regular season ends. That’s an implied probability of better than 61%.”

Keep in mind that Ovechkin’s Caps have 84 points, the most in the NHL. Their plus-65 goal differential is tops in the Eastern Conference. They only have 11 one-goal wins and 27 multi-goal victories. That means lots of empty-net opportunities. The team has 19 empty net goals, the second most in hockey. Ovechkin has seven of them. That is tied with Mikko Rantanen for the NHL lead.

So it sounds like a matter of when, not if, Ovechkin sets the record. I imagine that many Penguins fans will keep their eyes on hockey by monitoring his attempt with great interest. Especially if he slows down and the chase is still in doubt when Ovechkin comes back to Pittsburgh for the regular season finale on April 17.

Let’s just say local rooting interests may alter a bit at that point.