Alex Ovechkin took a moment to soak in his final home opener with the Capitals, and he made sure his sons were part of it.
Ovechkin said it meant a lot to have Sergei and Ilya there. "It's gonna be lots of memories, it's gonna be lots of fun when they grow up and we watch it together."
Washington made it a night to remember, beating Pittsburgh 5-3 to improve to 2-1-0.
For a player with 929 NHL goals and 1,687 points, every one of them in a Capitals sweater, this season is a long goodbye. Every building will feel it.
He's 41 now, on a $4,250,000 cap hit. He has an assist through three games and is still hunting his first goal of the season.
That goal will come. When it does, the roar in Washington will be louder than usual.
Spencer Carbery's Capitals begin a season-long farewell for Ovechkin
Last week he showed the leader he still is, retrieving the puck after Alex Tuch scored his first goal as a Capital.
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Those small moments are what this final season is about. Ovechkin seems determined to take in every one.
Every NHL arena should mark his last visit. A player who gave the league more than two decades of goals deserves a proper send-off in every building, not just Washington.
It's like the last day in the house you grew up in. You walk every room slowly, because you know you won't be back.
The Capitals host the Rangers on Friday, with Matt Roy's lower-body injury still a question on the blue line.
Sergei and Ilya will watch this footage someday. So will a lot of hockey fans who already know they won't see another player quite like him.
Should every NHL team honour Alex Ovechkin on his final visit?
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