Alex Ovechkin Thanks Former Goalie for Help in Goals Chase

Alex Ovechkin made sure to thank a former teammate for some rare help in the record-breaking goal chase.

Mar 14, 2008; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig (37) defends in the second period against the Atlanta Thrashers at the Verizon Center. Washington won the game 4-1. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images / James Lang-Imagn Images

Olaf Kolzig is known as one of the best goalies in Washington Capitals history, holding the franchise record in wins with 301. Before leaving Washington in 2008, Kolzig played his final three seasons with the Capitals alongside a young Alex Ovechkin.

Ovechkin recently broke the record as the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer with 895 goals and Kolzig reached out to congratulate his former Capitals teammate.

According to a tweet from Kolzig, Ovechkin responded by thanking him for his help on the chase. While Ovechkin does have one career goal against Kolzig during his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, that’s not what he was thanking him for.

Kolzig notes that Ovechkin was thanking him for the five assists he recorded on Ovechkin goals.

I text the Gr8 congratulations and he responds by telling me I'm part of his history. I'm like haha, you scored on me once. He says, no, you assisted on 5 of my goals. How does he know that? I didn't know that. Says all you need to know about the greatest goal scorer NHL history.

— Olaf Kolzig (@OlafKolzig) April 8, 2025

“How does he know that?” Kolzig said in the tweet. “I didn't know that. Says all you need to know about the greatest goal scorer NHL history.”

Goalie assists are rare, but do happen from time to time. The all-time leader in goalie assists is Hall of Famer Tom Barrasso who picked up 48 in his career.

Kolzig played 719 games in the NHL and picked up 17 assists, five of which game from Ovechkin goals.

Plenty of goalies can say Ovechkin has scored on them. There’s a short list of goalies who can say they’ve faced Ovechkin and he didn’t beat them. There’s an even shorter list of goalies who can say they’ve assisted on multiple multiple Ovechkin goals, well before anyone knew he could chase down the all-time goals record.

Unfortunately for Kolzig, he played just eight game outside of Washington his entire NHL career, and Ovechkin managed to beat him in one of those games.

It was Kolzig’s only career game against the Capitals and he came up on the losing end by a score of 4-2 in November of 2008.

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