Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
March 26, 2026 - When the Arizona Coyotes became the Utah Hockey Club in 2024, it meant there was a new arena in the NHL, and that meant a new building for Alex Ovechkin to score in. The Great 8's first visit to Salt Lake City was memorable, for good and bad reasons. The good was the two goals he scored as part of his incredible start to the 2024-25 season, when the then-39-year-old was leading the entire NHL in goals a month in. The bad was that it was also the game that saw Ovechkin suffer the worst injury of his NHL career - a fractured fibula after an accidental collision with Utah's Jack McBain that sidelined him for 16 games. While Ovechkin was able to recover and finish third in the league with 44 goals, it's hard to not wonder what totals Ovi could have put up if not for the broken leg (he was on pace for 68 goals and 113 points). Ovechkin's next visit to the Delta Center came at a crucial time with the Caps fighting to stay alive in the playoff race. Facing a 3-1 deficit in a must-win game, the greatest goal scorer in NHL history delivered again, scoring twice to tie the game heading into the third period. Energized by their captain's heroics, the Caps took control in the final frame, scoring three goals, capped off by an empty-netter from Ovechkin to complete his 34th career hat trick.
Unsurprisingly, the hat trick was also historic:
- 34th hat trick (broke tie with Brett Hull for 4th all-time)
- 21st franchise with a hat trick against, most all-time
- 6th oldest player to score a hat trick (40y, 190d)
- First goal on former teammate Vitek Vanecek, extending his record of goalies scored against to 189. Vanecek was also the active goalie with the most saves against Ovi without allowing a goal (19), behind only another former teammate, Michal Neuvirth (25 saves) all-time.
Another "historic" Ovechkin moment occurred in this game - a defensive zone start, two of them in fact. For the first 72 games of the season, Ovechkin did not record a single defensive zone start. The streak gained notoriety among hockey fans online, and many wondered if he would end the year without one. With 15:41 left in the second period, head coach Spencer Carbery ended the streak, and soon realized his strategy may not have been that good after all as Ovechkin scored his first of the night 42 seconds later. Carbery then gave the Great 8 an unprecedented *second* defensive start with 2:56 left in the game. Carbery would later say he ended the streak "because it became a story".
Game stats: 3 goals, 3 points, 5 shots, 11 shot attempts, 1 hit
- 1st Period -
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - Collision with Lawson Crouse
0:28 - Defensive positioning to disrupt play
0:38 - Utah crowd salutes Ovechkin for 1,000 combined regular season and playoff goals
- 2nd Period -
1:09 - Ovechkin's first defensive zone start of the season, 42 seconds later in the shift...
1:42 - Goal 1
3:20 - Joe B takes Ovi's lip reading personally (and Ovi has 300 second period goals)
3:36 - Goal 2
4:43 - Pass to Strome for chance
5:00 - Hit on Dylan Guenther
5:07 - Another defensive read to break up play
5:12 - Intermission interview with Al Koken
5:47 - Ovechkin's plan for the third period
- 3rd Period -
5:58 - Shot-pass to Anthony Beauvillier almost goes in, Beauvillier puts Caps up 4-3 soon after
7:13 - Shot
7:33 - "Sir, a second Ovechkin defensive zone start has been recorded"
7:57 - Goal 3, 34th career hat trick
9:20 - Final buzzer
More classic Ovechkin games - youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8bFa0t7qpQfBYEXybnEr9NbAqFcPyyq
March 26, 2026 - When the Arizona Coyotes became the Utah Hockey Club in 2024, it meant there was a new arena in the NHL, and that meant a new building for Alex Ovechkin to score in. The Great 8's first visit to Salt Lake City was memorable, for good and bad reasons. The good was the two goals he scored as part of his incredible start to the 2024-25 season, when the then-39-year-old was leading the entire NHL in goals a month in. The bad was that it was also the game that saw Ovechkin suffer the worst injury of his NHL career - a fractured fibula after an accidental collision with Utah's Jack McBain that sidelined him for 16 games. While Ovechkin was able to recover and finish third in the league with 44 goals, it's hard to not wonder what totals Ovi could have put up if not for the broken leg (he was on pace for 68 goals and 113 points). Ovechkin's next visit to the Delta Center came at a crucial time with the Caps fighting to stay alive in the playoff race. Facing a 3-1 deficit in a must-win game, the greatest goal scorer in NHL history delivered again, scoring twice to tie the game heading into the third period. Energized by their captain's heroics, the Caps took control in the final frame, scoring three goals, capped off by an empty-netter from Ovechkin to complete his 34th career hat trick.
Unsurprisingly, the hat trick was also historic:
- 34th hat trick (broke tie with Brett Hull for 4th all-time)
- 21st franchise with a hat trick against, most all-time
- 6th oldest player to score a hat trick (40y, 190d)
- First goal on former teammate Vitek Vanecek, extending his record of goalies scored against to 189. Vanecek was also the active goalie with the most saves against Ovi without allowing a goal (19), behind only another former teammate, Michal Neuvirth (25 saves) all-time.
Another "historic" Ovechkin moment occurred in this game - a defensive zone start, two of them in fact. For the first 72 games of the season, Ovechkin did not record a single defensive zone start. The streak gained notoriety among hockey fans online, and many wondered if he would end the year without one. With 15:41 left in the second period, head coach Spencer Carbery ended the streak, and soon realized his strategy may not have been that good after all as Ovechkin scored his first of the night 42 seconds later. Carbery then gave the Great 8 an unprecedented *second* defensive start with 2:56 left in the game. Carbery would later say he ended the streak "because it became a story".
Game stats: 3 goals, 3 points, 5 shots, 11 shot attempts, 1 hit
- 1st Period -
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - Collision with Lawson Crouse
0:28 - Defensive positioning to disrupt play
0:38 - Utah crowd salutes Ovechkin for 1,000 combined regular season and playoff goals
- 2nd Period -
1:09 - Ovechkin's first defensive zone start of the season, 42 seconds later in the shift...
1:42 - Goal 1
3:20 - Joe B takes Ovi's lip reading personally (and Ovi has 300 second period goals)
3:36 - Goal 2
4:43 - Pass to Strome for chance
5:00 - Hit on Dylan Guenther
5:07 - Another defensive read to break up play
5:12 - Intermission interview with Al Koken
5:47 - Ovechkin's plan for the third period
- 3rd Period -
5:58 - Shot-pass to Anthony Beauvillier almost goes in, Beauvillier puts Caps up 4-3 soon after
7:13 - Shot
7:33 - "Sir, a second Ovechkin defensive zone start has been recorded"
7:57 - Goal 3, 34th career hat trick
9:20 - Final buzzer
More classic Ovechkin games - youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8bFa0t7qpQfBYEXybnEr9NbAqFcPyyq
