ELMONT, N.Y. — The visitors’ room looked as it should have after Alex Ovechkin’s record-setting goal No. 895.
Tom Wilson holding court in one corner. John Carlson in another. Nicklas Backstrom on a bench. T.J. Oshie nearby. The four Capitals who have been along for the Ovechkin ride the longest reveling in Ovechkin’s achievement Sunday at UBS Arena, even though Backstrom and Oshie haven’t played this season and almost certainly never will again because of injuries.
“We’re fortunate we got to play with him, first of all,” Backstrom said. “And to be able to be a part of this big night is obviously special. It’s something he feels and something we feel, so it’s mutual.”
Backstrom hasn’t played since Oct. 29, 2023. Oshie’s last game was Game 4 of the 2024 first round, just shy of a year ago. But they were as much a part of Sunday’s celebration as anyone in a Caps uniform and the only two of Ovechkin’s teammates who were called out by name during his on-ice speech after the goal.
“I kind of assumed Backy was going to get a shout out, right?” Oshie said. “They go hand in hand and their bond is like no other of two teammates that I’ve seen. But for him to call my name in that moment was incredibly, incredibly special and honestly, very emotional for me to have him mention me and give me a little shout-out during the biggest accomplishment that the world of hockey has seen in a very long time.
“I can’t express the amount of joy I have for him right now, for his family and for the things he’s been through the last couple years — the doubters, the loss of his father. Going through all this is I’m sure a whirlwind right now. This record is going to be here for a while. He deserves everything that he’s getting.”
Oshie assisted on 48 of Ovechkin’s goals, the same number as Dylan Strome and three behind Wilson, who made the pass to Ovechkin on Sunday. No one will touch Backstrom’s 279 assists to Ovechkin. Backstrom feigned surprise that Ovechkin set the record on a power-play shot from the left circle — the Ovi spot, as everyone around the league knows it.
“Who would have known that he would score from his office, you know?” Backstrom said with a smile.
Backstrom and Oshie were key parts of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup victory in 2018, as was Devante Smith-Pelly, who was also along for the ride to Long Island to see the record-breaker on Sunday. Backstrom played 17 seasons with Ovechkin, while Oshie played nine. And it can seem, with Ovechkin’s gregarious personality and unmatched ability to both score goals and celebrate them in an over-the-top fashion, that the Caps have always been a one-man show.
But Ovechkin’s first mention once he got the microphone Sunday — that it takes a team to do what he did — was a sign that he’s not just a captain but a beloved teammate, especially for the quartet holding court in the room Sunday.
“Us five, there’s a bond there that will never be broken,” Oshie said. “Tom, Backy, O, John and myself, not only to be etched in history on the Cup, but the bond we have is life-long. For (Tom) to assist on that, to give me and Nick a shout out up in the suites there — we’re a family. We’re like brothers, we do anything for each other, go to work for each other. And it’s very fitting — O finds a way of bringing things together, like a storybook. And sure enough, he did it again.”
(Photo of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom: Jess Rapfogel / NHLI via Getty Images)