Sunday's game could mark Alex Ovechkin's last go-around in D.C.
WASHINGTON — Head coach Spencer Carbery knows for a fact that if he tried in any way to make the Washington Capitals' home finale against the Pittsburgh Penguins about just Alex Ovechkin, with his career in flux, Ovechkin would have some strong words for him.
That's why, pregame, it is business as usual at Capital One Arena as D.C. faces the Penguins in a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
"Before the game and preparation, this is the one thing that you guys have come to know about O, is he never wants to make it about him," Carbery said. "If I go in there when I address the team (pregame) and talk about him and the gravity of the night and celebrating him, he would pull me aside after that meeting and say, 'What the hell are you doing?'"
Ovechkin's NHL future remains up in the air with two games to go in the regular season, as he'll take time after the season wraps up and make that decision over the summer.
However, whether he wants a sendoff or not, he's going to get it just in case, with fans lining the streets of Chinatown early to catch a glimpse of what may be the 40-year-old's final go-around in D.C.
"I picture something similar, probably to, you know, the Chicago game last year when he tied the record. They love Ovi here, as they should," Dylan Strome said. "He gets big cheers every time he pretty much touches the puck... we'll see what happens. If it is his last game, we're going to enjoy it."
While Washington is expecting plenty of fanfare for Ovechkin, the captain is composed as ever and treating it just like any other game, with pregame sewer ball, his usual routine and no fretting over what's next.
That said, his team will certainly take a minute to appreciate what he's done.
"It's us focused on the task at hand and the game and all the things that we need to do inside of that. And then taking moments through the night, pregame (warm-ups), maybe some TV timeouts, postgame to really recognize and celebrate the moment that it potentially is," Carbery said. "Make sure, you just want O to realize how much he's had a positive impact on coaches' lives, his teammates' lives and we just want to make sure he knows how much we appreciate that."