Capitals Rookie Ryan Leonard’s First Goal Came With an Unforgettable Postgame Moment

Ryan Leonard’s first week in the NHL has been a movie.

Washington Capitals right wing Ryan Leonard smiles as he celebrates a goal by teammate center Dylan Strome. / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

It’s been a week for the Washington Capitals.

In case you have been living under a rock and there is no hockey available on television under said rock, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record on Friday night, netting two goals in a 5–3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Ovechkin could have broken the record late with an empty-netter, but passed up on the chance, wanting his record-breaking goal to come from a real shot.

Obviously, celebrations were had. Gretzky himself was in attendance for the occasion, and shared a few moments with Ovi as he tied the record.

But Ovechkin wasn’t the only Capitals player to score an important goal in his career this week. Rookie Ryan Leonard, just three games into his NHL career, also netted a goal—his first as a professional.

And when you score your first goal with Gretzky in attendance, you get a shoutout from The Great One in the locker room after the game.

this and being 20 pic.twitter.com/7RYuo7r6U7

— x - Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 5, 2025

Shout out to Ovechkin for quieting the locker room so Gretzky could give the rookie his moment.

If that feels like a surreal sequence from the outside looking in, don’t worry, Leonard can’t believe it either.

"It’s so weird to think about,” Leonard told Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post. “To think that this is my first pro week—he’s scored in all three games. I just realized that."

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