We don’t know whether this will be Alex Ovechkin’s final season as a Washington Capital or not, but there’s never a bad time to reflect back on two decades of being treated to this amazing talent. So each game day throughout the 2025-26 season, we’re going to be picking an Ovechkin moment to remember against that day’s opponent as we look back at an incredible career.
Deking Defenders for a Stellar Goal – December 20, 2014
This wasn’t a particularly notable evening for the Capitals or for Alex Ovechkin as they took on the New Jersey Devils in Newark – no milestones to play for, no playoff spot at stake, not even a particularly close game.
But as we know from two decades of watching the man, Ovechkin in his prime had – and still has – the ability to make a mundane game into something special. And what was special about this one was that it was kind of a classic Ovechkin game, featuring lots of chances (five shots on goal, several pipes, and a missed penalty shot). Basically the type of game where you know he’s just circling like a shark, waiting to strike…and when he did finally strike, it was something special:
One of his prettiest to that point, for sure, and probably one of the prettier goals he’s scored in his career, featuring the classic deke around the defender before taking his shot. Also? A reminder that he could score nicer goals while falling down than most guys could/can on two feet. And while this wasn’t a milestone goal, it was the 437th of his career, which put him at fifth-most among active players at the time…a pretty decent pace at that point.
You can watch an extended cut of his work for the evening below, and it really is something to remember how dangerous he could look out there at any given time: