Now that Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has surpassed Wayne Gretzky's NHL record let's look at part 2 of what we wrote last week and see what we got right and what we got wrong.
The trivia answers and more
Who was the opposing goaltender? None other than Ilya Sorokin which we got right in that last piece. It was a Russian breaking the record by scoring on another Russian and the two paid nothing but respect. Ovechkin jokingly shouted him out as he'll be on the highlight reels for centuries but it was all a matter of class.
Who was on the ice? Sadly not Ryan Leonard but shoutout to the kid for getting his first NHL goal and a handshake from Gretzky himself on Friday night. Caps were on the power play attack and Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson had the assists. We had the Stromer part right at least.
The Caps countered in that matchup with the New York Islanders on Sunday with Charlie Lindgren in net. So he was on the other end when it happened. The other players on the Caps who were on the ice for the golden goal was Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson on defense.
The players on the Islanders besides Sorokin when Ovechkin scored the goal were Jean Gabriel Pageau, Simon Holmstrom, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock.
Wilson had the primary assist and talked about the play after the game, "I just tried to find him on the entry there. And then when I was skating to the net, and the puck went in the net, out of the next 15 seconds, I truly just blacked out. I've got to watch it back, because I don't remember what happened; it was just chaos.
"It's just a honor to be living through this and to see this. And you know, 10 year old me or 10 year old any of us, to be able to be in a room with Wayne and Ovi during this moment is so special, and he's taken us on this amazing journey. And it'll be the honor of my career to play with O; I learn so much from him, win with him, watch him score this goal. There's really no words to describe it.
It makes me a little bit emotional, just because I think so much of him. And to be able to be beside him forever in a big goal, I feel very lucky, I feel very honored to be a part of that. And it's not about me at all. I'm just really proud, and I love that guy, and I love his family and I'm really happy for him."
Just seeing Ovechkin break this record is truly remarkable. As a follower of the team for the last 20 years and seeing it go from last to first from the ground up, seeing Ovechkin's first goal as a kid and now 20 years later seeing 895 is truly surreal. Did I know 20 years prior Ovechkin would break the record? No I did not.
But as he got to 500, I begun to believe. When he got congratulated by everyone after winning the Stanley Cup, more people around me began to believe. Once he got to 700, the math and the predictions were on.
Glad we got the Sorokin part right at least. And that was a bold move considering Ovechkin nearly had a hat trick the game prior. The roof would've blown off of Capital One Arena had the hat trick been complete but it was still loud. And at UBS Arena amid a sea of red, it certainly felt like a home game, the holidays and a championship combined.
Congrats again to Alex Ovechkin. You did it. And now we know who the set up guys were and who was the victim goaltender when it all happened.