Welp, heartbreak came knocking again for Alex Ovechkin and his Washington crew, and this one stung just as bad as the rest. Just when it looked like the Caps were hanging tough, Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov swooped in like a thief in the night and fired in the go-ahead dagger with less than two minutes left on the clock. Then, like salt in the wound, Seth Jarvis iced it with an empty-netter in the final seconds. Game over. Series over. Season done. Despite flashes of fight from Beauvillier and that close call by Matt Roy (which got snatched away by an offside challenge), it just wasn’t their night. It was their seventh and last goal of the series… and maybe the last ride for this version of the squad.
But before folks could whip up their ‘Ovi retirement’ tribute edits, Coach Spencer Carbery stepped up to clear the air and toss water on the rumors. Nope, don’t cue the farewell tour just yet. Despite the sting of another early playoff exit, the Caps’ captain isn’t calling it quits. Carbery made it clear—Alex Ovechkin is still locked in, still skating toward greatness, and still got fire in the tank.
The postgame air was heavy, but when the mic got passed to Coach Spencer Carbery and the two-part Ovi question hit: “Hey, Spencer. First off, two-parter, is it your understanding that Alex Ovechkin will be back next season? And what was your assessment of his play in the series?” Carbery didn’t even blink. “My understanding is he’s under contract. So he’ll be back next year,” he said straight up, just facts. Then he got real about Ovi’s performance. “I thought O was great in the playoffs. And I know the series, the stats won’t be flattering. But here’s what I appreciate about O…”
And that’s when he really started peeling back the layers. Last year? They barely squeaked into the postseason and got wiped out fast. “We squeaked into the playoffs, and we get swept by the New York Rangers. And it wasn’t, that series wasn’t close.” Carbery admitted it wasn’t pretty, and they just didn’t have anything left in the tank when it mattered. But Ovi? He took that personally. “And O, what was, at the end of the season, he was upset with the way that the playoffs went,” Carbery said, and you could tell it stuck with him.
Source: X/NHL
So this year, he came back on a mission: “chase down this record, the start that he had, breaking his leg, coming back from that…” and still showing up night after night leading from the front. Carbery gave full props: “Just continuing to not only do the things he did individually, statistically, but lead our team.” And sure, people might gloss over that storyline, but to the coach, it mattered. “That’s part of the story that will sort of go, it’ll be a minor part of it, but it’s a big part of it.” Quiet leadership, relentless hustle, and the kind of fire that doesn’t fade.
So yeah, Ovi’s still got that monster deal; locked in through the 2025-26 season with a fat $9.5 million cap hit. And during the regular season? He dropped 44 goals in just 65 games and oh, casually shattered Wayne Gretzky’s legendary record with his 895th career snipe. But the playoffs? That’s where the magic fizzled a bit. He managed just one goal in five games against Carolina, and yep, that one came on a 5-on-3 power play during Game 4 in Raleigh, which they lost anyway.
Across the whole series, Ovi cranked out 14 shots but couldn’t light the lamp much. He was a minus-3 overall and took a minus-2 hit in that tough Game 5 goodbye. In total playoff action, he stacked five goals and an assist in 10 games, most of that damage coming during their takedown of the Canadiens in Round 1. But after that? Just one even-strength goal, and zilch against the Canes. The stick was willing, but the net… not so much. And well, Alex Ovechkin himself talked about his retirement!
Alex Ovechkin opens up on his retirement!
The Washington Capitals had one job; survive Game 5 and keep the dream alive. But Thursday night? Yeah, it just didn’t go their way. That final 3-1 score punched the Hurricanes’ ticket to their third Eastern Conference Final in seven years. Meanwhile, the Caps? Still stuck in that post-2018 playoff rut. Wild, considering they came into the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the East. Now let’s talk Ovi. The man is practically hockey royalty, dude came back from a broken leg, broke Gretzky’s all-time goals record, and dropped his highest goal-per-game rate since 2010. But against Carolina? Age hit a little harder.
NHL, Eishockey Herren, USA Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals Apr 10, 2025 Washington, District of Columbia, USA Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin 8 watches a video during a ceremony honoring his becoming the NHL all-time goals leader prior to the Capitals game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena. Washington Capital One Arena District of Columbia USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xGeoffxBurkex 20250410_gkb_sb4_043
He managed just one goal this whole series, and fans were left wondering if the magic was fading. But Ovi wasn’t about to let the noise shake him. After the loss, he stood tall and said, “It’s tough obviously. It’s a special group… Luck was not our side. I don’t think we played bad hockey. We had lots of chances to get the lead, but ya know, we didn’t.”
And when whispers of retirement started floating? Ovechkin shut that down quick. The captain made it crystal clear that he’s not going anywhere just yet. “I’m not retiring,” he told Pat McAfee last month. “I have one more year, and we’ll see what’s gonna happen. I love being around the boys, and as long as I can, I will try to stick around and put my great body in the NHL.” So yeah, the NHL’s playoff run’s over, but Ovi’s not done writing chapters in his legendary story.
The post Spencer Carbery Clears Air on Alex Ovechkin’s Retirement Speculations Post Disappointing Loss: “He Was Upset” appeared first on EssentiallySports.