WASHINGTON — After their 3-0 loss on Sunday, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins lingered on the ice in preparation for a farewell handshake with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, who is considering retirement after this season.
Instead, they left for the dressing room after Ovechkin waved them off.
‘I [haven’t] decided yet. Thanks to them for waiting out there,” Ovechkin said.
Ovechkin announced last week that he would decide on his future in the offseason, after consulting with his family and the Capitals. The 40-year-old winger, in his 21st NHL season, has 32 goals and 31 assists in 81 games. Sunday was potentially the final home game of Ovechkin’s career if the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer chooses to retire. Fans serenaded him with “one more year!” chants throughout the game. His response to those fans?
“I will think about it,” he said, smiling.
It was a game filled with video tributes, standing ovations and several moments that honored Ovechkin’s decades-long rivalry with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins. That included a pregame photo of the trio, as well as a postgame meeting between the rivals away from fans and media. Ovechkin also took the opening faceoff of the game against Crosby after the Capitals’ Dylan Strome was chased from the circle.
“I’ve got to give credit to the referee there. I’m not sure which one it was that said that, but he thought it was a good idea. So, I was obviously all-in,” Strome said. “Thankfully, they didn’t score.”
No matter the final score, Crosby and the Penguins were ready to honor Ovechkin in what could be their final meeting, but Ovechkin had other ideas.
“It’s kind of in [Ovechkin] fashion. He’s like, ‘I’m not retired, so leave me alone. I don’t want to shake anybody’s hand,'” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “And honestly, I’m like, ‘We might be seeing them in a week.'”
The Capitals swept their weekend home-and-home series against the Penguins, giving Washington 93 points with one game remaining Tuesday at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Capitals would need to win that game and have the Philadelphia Flyers lose their remaining two games — Monday against Carolina and Tuesday against Montreal, both at home — to finish third in the Metro Division.
If that happens, then the Crosby vs. Ovechkin rivalry isn’t done yet: Washington and Pittsburgh would meet in the first round, with the Penguins as the second-place team in the Metro. It would be the fifth playoff series meeting between Ovechkin and Crosby.
Each series winner has won the Stanley Cup that season: Pittsburgh in 2009, 2016 and 2017, and Washington in 2018.
Center Connor McMichael had two third-period goals in the win over Pittsburgh, including an empty-netter to clinch the win that was assisted by Ovechkin.
Though a playoff berth would mean Ovechkin’s journey continues, the potential for Sunday’s home game to be his last with the Capitals was the focus for fans and teammates.
“What he’s done for this city, you can’t really put into words. I mean, he’s literally changed the game of hockey. What he’s done may not ever be done again for a franchise,” said Tom Wilson, Ovechkin’s linemate. “I think there’s hundreds of thousands of kids that have played the game because of him and look up to him every day. He’s worn all that and done it with class, with the amount of pressure he’s been through. He just continues to exceed expectations and be a legend of the game.”
Ovechkin received a long ovation when he was announced as the game’s No. 1 star. He applauded the fans as he skated in celebration and thanked them for the support in a postgame interview from the bench as they again chanted “one more year!”
The Capitals had a unique challenge in approaching their last regular-season home game. After Ovechkin’s announcement last week about an offseason decision, Washington team executives met to discuss how to “strike a thoughtful balance” between giving the fans a chance to celebrate his legacy while respecting the fact that Ovechkin “has not officially retired.”
The team was also cognizant that some fans paid a significant amount on the resale market, on the chance it was Ovechkin’s final home game.
According to Vivid Seats, the $310 average ticket sale price made this the third-most in-demand Capitals regular-season home game on record (since 2007). The two games that drew a higher average were against the Carolina Hurricanes on April 10, 2025, the Capitals’ next game after Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky‘s all-time NHL goals record at the New York Islanders, and their Stanley Cup championship banner raising Oct. 3, 2018, against the Boston Bruins.
The Capitals consulted with the Penguins before the home-and-home series between the teams to discuss how both organizations would approach what might be the final game between Ovechkin, Malkin and Crosby on Sunday.
One memorable tribute: a video chronicling the Crosby vs. Ovechkin rivalry, which stretches back to when both entered the NHL as rookies in the 2005-26 season. After a series of game-action and behind-the-scenes clips, an announcement said: “Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, thank you for 21 years of excitement.” The fans greeted that with a standing ovation.
That was one of two video tributes for Ovechkin on Sunday. Before the teams skated out from their dressing rooms to start the game, there was a lengthy tribute that ended with the “GR8NESS” logo on the Jumbotron.
Ovechkin was the last player announced during starting lineups, sparking chants of “Ovi!” and a loud standing ovation that lasted about a minute before the Capitals’ star raised his stick in acknowledgment of the crowd.
The fans were ready to begrudgingly say goodbye to the Capitals’ greatest player. Ovechkin reiterated after the game that he has yet to make his decision on next season.
“I was focusing on the game. We’ll see,” he said.
