Zulgad: Appreciate Ovechkin vs. Flower Rivalry

I despise the shootout in hockey. You play 60 minutes of 5-on-5, then go to 3-on-3 for five minutes and then go to a skills competition. What sense does that make?

But even us curmudgeons had to appreciate what occurred on Thursday night in the Minnesota Wild’s 4-3 shootout victory in Washington.

With Matt Boldy having scored on the Wild’s second attempt, Alexander Ovechkin took the puck on his stick at center ice and skated in on Marc-Andre Fleury.

A 39-year-old legend who was the first-overall pick by Washington in the 2004 NHL draft, bearing down on a 40-year-old goaltender who was the first-overall selection by Pittsburgh a year earlier.

Ovechkin moved right and then back to the middle of the ice before snapping off a shot that Fleury stopped with his glove to set off a celebration among Wild players.

The NHL long ago became a young man’s game, and seeing two Hall of Fame legends competing for one of the final times is a special moment. Even if it was in a shootout.

Fleury has said this will be the last season of his 21-year NHL career. He spent 13 of those seasons competing against Ovechkin with the Penguins in the Eastern Conference. Ovechkin scored a power-play goal against Fleury on Thursday night, giving him 28 regular-season goals against The Flower. That’s more than he’s scored on any goalie.

Ovechkin also had 13 goals against Fleury in the playoffs, but the Penguins were 3-0 in the postseason against the Capitals during Fleury’s time in Pittsburgh. That includes Pittsburgh’s seven-game victory in the 2009 conference semifinals en route to a Stanley Cup title.

“It’s 20 years we play against each other,” Ovechkin told reporters. “It’s always fun. It’s always a challenge. He’s one of the best goalies out there and it’s a huge challenge for me to play against him.”

There could be one more meeting between Fleury and Ovechkin, and it would be more special than the one we saw Thursday.

Ovechkin has 871 career goals, putting him 24 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s time record of 894 goals. The Capitals are scheduled to play 33 games before they face the Wild on March 27 at Xcel Energy Center.

Ovechkin scored 15 goals in his first 18 games of the season before missing 16 because of a fractured fibula, but he has three goals in four games since his return. Could Ovechkin pass Gretzky’s mark in downtown St. Paul?

Fleury probably would be OK if that’s not the case. He already has plenty of memories of Ovechkin scoring goals against him.

“I feel fortunate I was able to play in this time,” Fleury told reporters. “He probably owes me a few things for scoring so many goals on me. I helped him out pretty good. I’m glad I got to face him. He’s one of the best and always brings the best out of you. It’s been fun battles with him.”

A long road (trip)
One can forgive Wild players if they aren’t as excited as Minnesota hockey fans are about the World Junior Championships being held next winter at Xcel Energy Center.

Ottawa is currently playing host to the world juniors and that has sent the Senators on a nine-game road trip in which they are 4-3-0. The tournament started the day after Christmas and runs through Sunday. The Senators last played at the Canadian Tire Centre on Dec. 14.

The 2026 world juniors will begin on Dec. 26, 2025 and run through Jan. 5, 2026. That means that other than the NHL’s holiday break, the Wild will be on a long trip beginning in late December and extending into early January.

The Canadian Tire Centre is the primary venue, hosting a total of 18 games, while TD Place hosted 12 games during the tournament. The secondary venue in Minnesota will be 3M Arena at Mariucci, home of the Gophers men’s hockey team.

It will be the first time the world juniors will be played in Minnesota since 1982. The tournament was conducted in a round-robin format at the time and won by Canada.

The North Stars’ home building, Met Center, hosted a few games but there also were games played in Manitoba, as well as multiple Minnesota cites, including Brainerd, Burnsville, Duluth, Grand Rapids, International Falls, Mankato, New Ulm, Rochester, St. Cloud and Virginia.

That’s no longer the case because the world juniors have become big business.