Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin reached his 1,500th career NHL game on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators at Capital One Arena. The milestone made him the eighth player in league history to achieve 1,500 games with one franchise. Teammates celebrated with a fun tribute referencing Ovechkin's brief rap career.
The Washington Capitals hosted the Ottawa Senators on October 25, 2025, at Capital One Arena, with the game starting at 7 p.m. ET. For the Capitals, who entered the matchup with a 6-2-0 record following a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, Alex Ovechkin laced up for his 1,500th career game. Ovechkin, 40, has played in 1,499 of the Capitals' 1,575 games since his NHL debut on October 5, 2005, missing 51 of 76 games due to injury. The Capitals hold an 829-487-183 record (.614 point percentage) with Ovechkin in the lineup, compared to 36-35-5 (.507) without him. His 829 wins as a skater are the most among active players and 11th all-time.
Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time goals leader with 899 goals, 731 assists, and 1,630 points in 1,499 games, entered one goal shy of 900. He has scored in 684 games (45.6%), the highest rate in league history for players with at least 1,000 games, tying Wayne Gretzky for the best goals-per-game rate at 0.60 among such players.
To mark the occasion, Ovechkin's teammates entered the arena in front of a gigantic screen playing a clip from his 2012 guest appearance in the Russian rap song 'Champion' by Sasha Belyi. Players wore white baseball caps and T-shirts featuring a photo of Ovechkin rapping, with a giant '1,500' and the Capitals' eagle logo displayed over the video. Forward Justin Sourdif, born in 2002, added to the fun by wearing a large chain with Ovechkin's face. At the time of the song's release, Ovechkin had played 475 NHL games and scored 301 goals. This milestone positions Ovechkin as the 24th player to reach 1,500 games and the second active player after Brent Burns.
For the Senators (3-4-1), forward Brady Tkachuk skated in a noncontact jersey for the first time since thumb surgery on October 16 but remained sidelined. Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois was questionable after missing five games with a lower-body injury. Projected lineups included Ovechkin centering Dylan Strome and Anthony Beauvillier for Washington, and Tim Stutzle with Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens for Ottawa.