Alex Ovechkin skated over to his son Sergei at the glass. He bowed to Wayne Gretzky standing in a suite. He blew kisses to his wife, mother and family on the other side of the arena.

Alex Ovechkin wants to be the NHL's all-time goal leader, but under one condition. "I don't want an empty net," Ovechkin said. Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 goals with two tallies in a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.

Chicago put goalie Spencer Knight back in the game after that, so Ovechkin came back in and nearly got the hat trick anyway. He got four shot attempts off in the final two minutes and was agonizingly close to the record-breaking goal, but Knight had other plans.