Before his tally, the Bridgestone Arena crowd, consisting of a loud group of Capitals fans, could be heard on the Monumental Sports Network telecast chanting, 'We want Ovi' after the Predators pulled Juuse Saros for an extra attacker.
The empty netter marked Ovechkin's 873rd career goal, bringing him within 21 of Wayne Gretzky's goals record. The tally was also Ovi's 20th goal of the season, giving The Great 8 his twentieth consecutive 20-goal season.
Despite missing 16 games due to a broken leg, Ovi is on pace to score 49 goals this season - the most since the 2020-21 season, where he hit 50 for the ninth time in his career.
Ovechkin blocked an 87.7 MPH point shot from Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Roman Josi before racing to the loose puck at center ice and depositing it into the yawning net.
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