Sidney Crosby Salutes Alex Ovechkin Amid Pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's Goal Record

Karl Rasmussen | Mar 9, 2025

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin shake hands after a puck drop ceremony. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin added to their goal tallies on Sunday. For Crosby, he scored both his 20th and 21st of the season during the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–1 win over the Minnesota Wild. As for Ovechkin, he added his 33rd of the season in the Washington Capitals' 4–2 win vs. the Seattle Kraken.

Crosby was on the air for a postgame interview with the NHL on TNT crew after Sunday's win when he was asked about Ovechkin's pursuit of the NHL's all-time goal record, currently held by "The Great One," Wayne Gretzky. Crosby gave Ovechkin his flowers, saluting the 39-year-old for his ability to continue racking up goals at his current age.

"It's amazing what he's doing at his age––just nonetheless, just to score that much no matter how old you are, but especially at his age. The excitement around it, throughout the league, for fans, everyone's got a close eye on it. It'll be amazing when it happens. I think we have them the last game of the season, but I'm sure that at the clip he's going, he'll probably end up getting it before that," Crosby said.

Sidney Crosby got his last chance at playing against Marc-Andre Fleury and pulled off the ultimate prank... he scored on him 😅 pic.twitter.com/Vh57SyWBPy

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) March 9, 2025

Ovechkin scored an empty-net goal during Washington's win over the Kraken. That goal brought him to 886 for his career, putting him eight away from tying Gretzky's record and nine from surpassing it. Considering he's at 33 goals in 48 games, Crosby made clear he expects Ovechkin to pass Gretzky this season, and even before the Penguins and Capitals meet in the regular-season finale.

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