Clash of the NHL titans

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This article was published 24/03/2025 (199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Josh Morrissey remembers his welcome to the NHL moment fondly — even if it took place before he became a regular.

Fresh off being chosen 13th overall in the 2013 NHL Draft, Morrissey recalls getting the opportunity to suit up for the Winnipeg Jets in a Kraft Hockeyville game in Belleville, Ont., that October.

The 18-year-old was in the starting lineup for the Jets and caught himself staring across at Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin.

“With those Hockeyville games, usually the teams will send some more of their stars to give the local fans a show,” Morrissey recalled. “When we’re standing out there for the opening faceoff and Ovi is out there, I was like ‘I’ve never seen a guy this big on the ice.’ I think I was kind of starstruck the whole game.

“Being a huge fan, as a kid growing up. When he came in the league, I was around 10 years old, so right in the peak of my hockey card collecting sort of era and everything like that. So that game, my first ever experience of wearing an NHL sweater and seeing him flying down the ice was pretty intimidating and definitely something I’ll never forget.”

Morrissey is no longer intimidated going up against Ovechkin, but still cherishes the opportunity to try and slow him down in his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record for goals.

As the Jets host the league-leading Capitals on Tuesday in a clash of the NHL titans, Morrissey took some time to appreciate what Ovehckin is doing in chasing down a milestone that most people thought would last forever.

With 35 goals in 54 games this season, Ovechkin is up to 888 goals and in the pursuit of 894, needing six goals to tie Gretzky and seven to stand alone.

“It’s one thing to have a good year, a couple of good years or extrapolate that out for a decade — he’s done it for much more than that. The consistency of his ability to score is why he’s going to break that record,” said Morrissey. “What I appreciate about him the most as a player is just the excitement that he brings to the game. For me, that’s what I think of when I think of his career. Of course, the goal-scoring ability, but you can just tell that he absolutely loves to score goals and he brings that energy with the celebrations.

“It’s been just great for the game throughout his entire career. Like I said, hopefully we don’t let him break the record tomorrow. But definitely the whole league is in awe of what he’s been able to do.”

Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky’s record has garnered plenty of attention around the NHL, and for good reason, but the Capitals ability to perform at an incredibly high level this season is a testament to their team game and commitment to defensive structure.

“You knew that it was going to be a huge focus all year long,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel, who spent four seasons with the Capitals as an assistant coach and worked closely with Ovechkin. “(The Capitals) have won a lot of hockey games and Ovi’s continued to score. It isn’t just about scoring goals. He’s playing the right way, too. Kind of like 2018 when they won the (Stanley) Cup there, he was a big part of playing that way.

“They’re a deep team, they’re a big team, and they’re getting a lot of contributions from a lot of people in that lineup. Some young guys have really stepped forward, and obviously having Ovi out there… it doesn’t take him much if he gets that puck on his stick. He makes teams pay.”

The Jets enter the contest two points behind the Capitals (who hold a game in hand) in the chase for the Presidents’ Trophy.

Washington is riding a four-game winning streak and has won nine of their past 10 outings, while the Jets will be looking to put a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres behind them.

“When you play those top teams, those are teams that you might have to go through if you want to get to the pinnacle of what we’re trying to achieve,” said Morrissey. “It’s fun to get those big matchups during the year and test yourselves against the other best teams.”

Although the Jets were happy with the quality and quantity of the scoring chances they generated on Sunday, they will be looking to clean up some of the defensive details as they meet the Capitals for the second and final time of the regular season.

“It wasn’t so much about what we got but what we gave up, rather,” Morrissey said. “We didn’t give up a ton, but what we did, there was some quality there and some areas we can clean up and a little bit of emphasis that you might run into a game like that in the playoffs.

“On those nights, you just can’t afford to have lapses when there’s a goalie playing like that.”

The Jets earned a 5-4 overtime win over the Capitals when the two teams played a highly-entertaining game on Feb. 1.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck will be back between the pipes on Tuesday for his 54th start of the season.

Hellebuyck went through an on-ice session with Jets goalie coach Wade Flaherty on Monday to help sharpen up some of his details for the stretch run.

Former Jets centre Pierre-Luc Dubois is having an excellent season with the Capitals after they acquired him in an off-season deal for goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Dubois is up to 18 goals and 61 points (which is two behind his career-best, set in 2022-23 as a member of the Jets), while anchoring the second line with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael.

Speaking to reporters at the Capitals practice rink in Virginia on Monday, Dubois said he was excited for his lone visit this season to Winnipeg.

Although his father Eric, an assistant coach with the Manitoba Moose, is on the road this week, Dubois was set to have dinner with his mom, Jill.

“To be able to spend the night with her and for her to be able to come to the game, that’s going to be really fun,” said Dubois, who spent three seasons with the Jets before he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. “The fans, the people, the staff, the players, they treated me great and I have nothing but good memories from there.

“So, I think every time for the rest of my career when I walk in that building and I play there, it’s going to be a little bit special.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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