Hurricanes’ Russian goalie reveals how Alex Ovechkin trash talked him after scoring 860th career goal

During Sunday’s contest with the Carolina Hurricanes, Alex Ovechkin scored his 860th career goal. It was not enough to stop the surging Hurricanes, who bet the Capitals 4-2, but it was a major moment in a career full of excellence for Ovechkin.

The Russian star has scored time and again throughout his career, and he’s made sure goalies know what he did after the fact. This was true for a fellow Russian, Canes goalkeeper Pyotr Kochetkov.

Kochetkov on Ovechkin scoring on him: "Every time he tell me a lot of bad words. He scored (on) me, 'I score you! I score you!' All Russians do this. It's no problem for me."

— Cory Lavalette (@corylav) November 4, 2024

Kochetkov said after the game:

“Every time he [tells] me a lot of bad words. He scored [on] me, ‘I score you! I score you!’ All Russians do this. It’s no problem for me.”

Ovechkin made sure to let Kochetkov know about the goal, but it’s not anything the Russian goalie is unused to. This seems to be a tactic employed by a lot of Russian players, and there are quite a few in the NHL.

The Hurricanes withstood the historic goal from Ovechkin to win, pushing their impressive record to 8-2-0. The Washington Capitals had also been off to a really good start, but the loss dropped them to 8-3-0 on the season.

With his 860th goal, Ovechkin is 35 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record (894).

Canes’ goalie got revenge on Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin scored once on Pyotr Kochetkov, but the Russian goalie got the better of his fellow countryman later on. He made an excellent stick save to prevent another goal, eventually leading to a win.

Alex Ovechkin has his shot saved (Imagn)

He said via Russian Machine Never Breaks after:

“Yeah, it’s lucky. I read shot, he [sees] I go down, he went to [the] backhand. Yeah, lucky. I just touched stick. No score. He score [on] me last season. It’s just hockey, you know.”

The goalie opened up on how he handles stepping into action when he’s been inactive for a while:

“You know, it’s always tough. I try stay focused. I just think about next shot. Sometimes, no shots, you will get cold. It’s f*****g garbage. Today, I feel not bad. Guys lots of work today. Capitals have back-to-back, we play more times their zone. Lindgren have lots of work today. I happy we win, go home.”

The main goalie is Frederik Andersen, but he’s suffering from a lower-body injury. That pressed Kochetkov into action, and he’s responded well.