Capitals Honor Ovechkin For Passing Howe With Ceremony, Gifts

WASHINGTON — It was Alex Ovechkin's night at Capital One Arena, as the Washington Capitals honored the captain for passing Gordie Howe as the NHL's second all-time leading goal scorer.

Washington honored Ovechkin with a pregame ceremony, where he was joined by his mom Tatyana, his wife, Nastya, his brother, Mikhail, and his sons, Sergei and Ilya. Play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati hosted the ceremony.

Ovechkin was given a video tribute on the jumbotron, narrated by longtime teammate and friend Nicklas Backstrom.

The 37-year-old also received multiple gifts. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly gave Ovechkin with a Tiffany crystal on behalf of the NHL. He then got an autographed USSR stick from the 1974 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, as well as the puck from Howe's first goal of the series, presented by Tom Wilson. The organization also gave Ovechkin a custom 800 trophy made from stainless steel and bronze, and his teammates got him a custom necklace, which Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie presented to him. Lastly, Mark Howe, Gordie's son, presented Ovechkin with a custom painting of him and "Mr. Hockey."

In addition to gifts for him, Sergei and Ilya got bronze sticks from the team to commemorate their father's achievement.

Ovechkin passed Howe with his 802nd goal back on Dec. 23 against the Winnipeg Jets. He tied Howe's record in that game.

Through 65 games so far this season, Ovechkin has 39 goals and sits at 819 career tallies. He is one away from his record-breaking 13th 40-goal season and sits 76 from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.

Along with the pregame ceremonies, the team had a number of festivities to celebrate Ovechkin. The Capitals all wore No. 8 during warmups, and the team will have video tributes of him throughout the game.

Fans also received Ovechkin goal-counter bobbleheads, and there is also a "throne" on the concourse made of 802 pucks. The team will continue to add pucks to that as he chases Gretzky, and fans can take pictures on the throne as well.