Faceoffs have never been Alexander Ovechkin’s greatest strength. But on Saturday, he accomplished something he hadn’t done since the 2022–2023 season — he won a faceoff, and fans loved it.
Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer in NHL history, will go down as one of the best players ever to skate in the league. But nobody’s perfect, and for Ovechkin, faceoffs have never been a strong suit — he’s won just 65 of 191 in his NHL career, a success rate of 34 percent.
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Fourth straight loss
On Saturday, during the Washington Capitals’ 4–3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres — their fourth straight defeat — Ovechkin proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks. During a four-on-four in the final period, Capitals center Hendrix Lapierre was kicked out of the faceoff circle, leaving Ovechkin to take his first draw of the season.
Alexander Ovechkin wins faceoff
And guess what? He won it — cleanly, too. To make it even better, he did it against Ryan McLeod, who owns a career faceoff win percentage of 49.5 percent. It marked Ovechkin’s first faceoff win since the 2022–23 campaign. In the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons combined, Ovechkin had taken four faceoffs — and lost all of them.
Fans love it
Fans couldn’t get enough of the moment on social media:
“Ovi just added ‘faceoff specialist’ to the legend résumé,” one fan wrote.
“I’ve seen enough. Extend him as a full-time center,” joked another.
“3rd line center question answered,” a third chimed in.
Next up, the Capitals will face the St. Louis Blues at home.
You can watch Ovechkin’s historic faceoff win below.
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