Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin received a pricey gift from Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for becoming the NHL’s all-time leading scorer.
Following Thursday night’s game, the pair not only made time to congratulate him, they presented him with time itself: a Rolex watch.
The Penguins posted the moment between the hockey rivals on its social media accounts.
A gift for #Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/dZVyhQWypI
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 18, 2025
“A gift for #Gr8ness,” the caption read, a nod to Ovechkin’s nickname “The Great Eight.”
A video of the gift was posted online as well. Crosby and Malkin hugged Ovechkin before presenting him with their gift, the NHL said.
???? pic.twitter.com/x04zVb50Ti
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 18, 2025
“From us to congratulate you for the record,” Malkin said in Russian.
The Rolex is the second one Ovechkin was gifted in the past week. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis gave Ovechkin and his mom Rolex watches, and Ovi’s wife Nastya a Cartier watch during the “Gr8ness Pre-Game Ceremony” at Capital One Arena on April 10, the Russian Machine Never Breaks hockey blog reported.
“How many watches is this guy gonna want?” former Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau said on Monumental Sports Network.
Ovechkin scored his 897th career goal during the Penguins-Capitals matchup at PPG Paints Arena. On April 6, he scored his 895th career goal to pass Wayne Gretzky on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
The Penguins congratulated Ovechkin during the game on the arena’s video board. Fans then gave him a standing ovation — with chants of “Ovi!”
Ovechkin then saluted the crowd, the NHL said.
Malkin recently called Ovechkin his “best friend” and has been rooting for Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s record despite their rivalry, RMNB said. Crosby also spoke about his relationship with Ovechkin ahead of Thursday night’s game, and was looking forward to congratulating him in person.
