Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
June 7, 2018 - After 23 games of grueling playoff action, Alex Ovechkin sat just one win away from rewriting his legacy. Despite over 600 goals and 1,000 points, the Great 8 was known largely for one thing - being a great player who never won a Stanley Cup. Hockey may be a team sport, but to many a championship is required to truly be considered one of the greatest of the greats. Though T-Mobile Arena had proven to be a tough place for road teams, the Capitals weren't phased. All three of their prior series victories had come on the road. Ovechkin played his part in the back-and-forth affair, throwing huge hits, making plays for teammates, and blocking shots as he had done all playoffs long. His biggest moment in the game came after Vegas tied the game 1-1, immediately getting a semi-breakaway off the ensuing faceoff and drawing a penalty to go to the power play. On the man advantage, Nicklas Backstrom threaded perhaps the most iconic pass of his career to Ovechkin who buried it from his office to give the Caps a 2-1 lead. Despite falling down 3-2 heading into the third period, the resilient Caps clawed back with one last clutch Devante Smith-Pelly goal and took the lead when Lars Eller found a loose puck behind Marc-Andre Fleury. After a heart-racing 7 minutes and 37 seconds, the Capitals lined up for one last faceoff before hockey immortality. As the buzzer sounded, the thrill of victory quickly turned to emotional catharsis. There would be no more questions of his will to win, no more articles about how going to the KHL would be "a blessing in disguise for the Caps", and no more terrible former New York Islanders general managers who beat a fan with a shoe during his playing days talking on TV about how "the Ovechkin experiment" needed to be reviewed. It may have come later than it was deserved, but it was deserved without a doubt, and the wait might have made it even more special. Ovechkin would be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, with his 15 goals setting a franchise record and tying Sidney Crosby in 2009 for the most in the cap era (since surpassed by Zach Hyman - 16 in 2024). After a cup raise rivaled only by the likes of Ray Bourque's in 2001, Ovechkin called out for Nicklas Backstrom, his long-time teammate for the first handoff. The two raised the cup together, as Backstrom was still recovering from a hand injury he had played through since the Conference Final. With the championship question forever settled, the narrative around Ovechkin's career began to shift. No longer was he the guy who couldn't win it all, he was the guy who might go down as the greatest goal scorer ever. Seven years later, Ovechkin would score his 895th regular season to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time record. It's crazy to think what the narrative would be around Ovi if he broke that record with a huge cup-less asterisk about his greatness, but thanks to this game that's a question we will never have to answer.
- 1st Period -
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Ovechkin's pregame antics with Fleury
1:51 - Deflection chance
2:20 - Shot
2:32 - One-timer hits the post
- 2nd Period -
2:43 - Vrana 1-0 goal, Ovechkin reaction
3:05 - Shot block on Haula
3:20 - Breakaway chance, gets shot off while falling and draws a penalty
4:15 - Goal, 15th goal of the playoffs sets new Capitals franchise record
5:27 - Hit on McNabb
5:43 - Interception and shot attempt
5:56 - Spinning shot attempt
- 3rd Period -
7:20 - Between the legs move and one-handed pass to set up Eller for chance
7:29 - Backcheck on Bellemare to prevent breakaway
7:56 - One-handed pass to Kuznetsov
8:45 - Smith-Pelly 3-3 goal, Ovechkin reaction
9:12 - Eller 4-3 goal, Ovechkin reaction
9:48 - Shot block on Miller
Part 2: youtu.be/6lfEo_leNCk
Part 3: youtu.be/8HyFleg_UGo
Full 2018 Playoffs Highlight Reel: youtu.be/WUqaw-xbaY0
More classic Ovechkin games: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8bFa0t7qpQfBYEXybnEr9NbAqFcPyyq
June 7, 2018 - After 23 games of grueling playoff action, Alex Ovechkin sat just one win away from rewriting his legacy. Despite over 600 goals and 1,000 points, the Great 8 was known largely for one thing - being a great player who never won a Stanley Cup. Hockey may be a team sport, but to many a championship is required to truly be considered one of the greatest of the greats. Though T-Mobile Arena had proven to be a tough place for road teams, the Capitals weren't phased. All three of their prior series victories had come on the road. Ovechkin played his part in the back-and-forth affair, throwing huge hits, making plays for teammates, and blocking shots as he had done all playoffs long. His biggest moment in the game came after Vegas tied the game 1-1, immediately getting a semi-breakaway off the ensuing faceoff and drawing a penalty to go to the power play. On the man advantage, Nicklas Backstrom threaded perhaps the most iconic pass of his career to Ovechkin who buried it from his office to give the Caps a 2-1 lead. Despite falling down 3-2 heading into the third period, the resilient Caps clawed back with one last clutch Devante Smith-Pelly goal and took the lead when Lars Eller found a loose puck behind Marc-Andre Fleury. After a heart-racing 7 minutes and 37 seconds, the Capitals lined up for one last faceoff before hockey immortality. As the buzzer sounded, the thrill of victory quickly turned to emotional catharsis. There would be no more questions of his will to win, no more articles about how going to the KHL would be "a blessing in disguise for the Caps", and no more terrible former New York Islanders general managers who beat a fan with a shoe during his playing days talking on TV about how "the Ovechkin experiment" needed to be reviewed. It may have come later than it was deserved, but it was deserved without a doubt, and the wait might have made it even more special. Ovechkin would be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, with his 15 goals setting a franchise record and tying Sidney Crosby in 2009 for the most in the cap era (since surpassed by Zach Hyman - 16 in 2024). After a cup raise rivaled only by the likes of Ray Bourque's in 2001, Ovechkin called out for Nicklas Backstrom, his long-time teammate for the first handoff. The two raised the cup together, as Backstrom was still recovering from a hand injury he had played through since the Conference Final. With the championship question forever settled, the narrative around Ovechkin's career began to shift. No longer was he the guy who couldn't win it all, he was the guy who might go down as the greatest goal scorer ever. Seven years later, Ovechkin would score his 895th regular season to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time record. It's crazy to think what the narrative would be around Ovi if he broke that record with a huge cup-less asterisk about his greatness, but thanks to this game that's a question we will never have to answer.
- 1st Period -
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Ovechkin's pregame antics with Fleury
1:51 - Deflection chance
2:20 - Shot
2:32 - One-timer hits the post
- 2nd Period -
2:43 - Vrana 1-0 goal, Ovechkin reaction
3:05 - Shot block on Haula
3:20 - Breakaway chance, gets shot off while falling and draws a penalty
4:15 - Goal, 15th goal of the playoffs sets new Capitals franchise record
5:27 - Hit on McNabb
5:43 - Interception and shot attempt
5:56 - Spinning shot attempt
- 3rd Period -
7:20 - Between the legs move and one-handed pass to set up Eller for chance
7:29 - Backcheck on Bellemare to prevent breakaway
7:56 - One-handed pass to Kuznetsov
8:45 - Smith-Pelly 3-3 goal, Ovechkin reaction
9:12 - Eller 4-3 goal, Ovechkin reaction
9:48 - Shot block on Miller
Part 2: youtu.be/6lfEo_leNCk
Part 3: youtu.be/8HyFleg_UGo
Full 2018 Playoffs Highlight Reel: youtu.be/WUqaw-xbaY0
More classic Ovechkin games: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8bFa0t7qpQfBYEXybnEr9NbAqFcPyyq
