As the Washington Capitals made their way down the tunnel to the dressing room at Xcel Energy Center, wanting to put a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild behind them quickly, captain Alex Ovechkin frantically sprinted over and called his teammates back to the ice.

Because for Ovechkin, it was important for each and every one of the Capitals to line up and shake Marc-Andre Fleury's hand in what is likely the last time that the goaltender will face the team in his historic career as he's set to retire at the end of the season.

Ovechkin and Fleury hugged and shared words before the rest of Washington's roster followed suit.

It's been a 20-year rivalry between Ovechkin and Fleury, two respective first-overall picks who are arguably the best in their respective positions.

From Washington's early rivalry days with the Pittsburgh Penguins to Ovechkin's Capitals finally besting Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup in 2018 to their final meeting earlier this season where Ovechkin scored and they exchanged sticks postgame, there have been all kinds of memories between the two over the years.

"He's one of the best goalies to ever play," Ovechkin said of Fleury pregame, adding, "I hope he's going to sign one more year. It was a pretty good battle out there between me and him."

Ovechkin faced Fleury a total of 47 times, the most he's played any goalie, scoring 28 goals — also the most he's had on a single netminder.