Alex Ovechkin claps for the crowd after being named First Star of the Game after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on April 12 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Chants of “one more year” rocketed around Capital One Arena repeatedly Sunday as Alexander Ovechkin’s career in DC entered what sure looks like its McNugget Minute: The team has only a slim chance to make the NHL playoffs, and fans paid hundreds of dollars for tickets to what may have been the Russian star’s last home game in DC before he retires.

Fans carried Fatheads of Ovechkin on sticks and chanted “O!” during the National Anthem. They gave him a minute-long standing ovation during introductions and chanted “Ovi! Ovi! Ovi!” when he reentered the ice for a shift during the Capitals eventual 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A pair of Washingtonian reporters set out to find people who’d paid high prices for a seat on the secondary market but found only season ticket holders on a bittersweet mission. Jake and Rebecca Burch of Gainesville, Virginia, matched on Bumble because Rebecca saw a photo of Jake, who used to work for the team, in the Caps’ victory parade after they won the Stanley Cup in 2018. “I was like, he likes the Caps, so we met,” Rebecca said. They brought their one-year-old, whose birthday was Sunday. “I would love a win, keep the playoff hopes alive,” Jake said. “An Ovi goal or two is pretty awesome” hope for the day, too, he added.

That was not to be: The team’s three goals were scored by Trevor van Riemsdyk and Connor McMichael—who knocked in two, one with an Ovechkin assist.

We also met Nicole Woods and Scott Rudy of Sykesville, Maryland. Woods wore a Caps sweater and Rudy wore a Penguins one. “We make it work,” said Woods, who’s also a Commanders fan and noted that Rudy supports the Dallas Cowboys. There were also points of agreement: They’re both fans of the Hershey Bears, the Caps’ development club, and they were both happy to be at Capital One: “If this is Ovi’s last game, it would be a privilege to be a part of it,” Woods said. “It’ll be sad to see if Crosby and Ovi don’t get to play each other again,” Rudy said.

Victoria Clarke of DC wore a jacket painted by Taylor Kampa Olson, the artist who designed special cherry-blossom-inspired jerseys for the team. “I’m secretly hoping it’s not Ovechkin’s last game,” she said. “They just have to push him out onto the ice.” But no matter what, she said, she and her husband, Brian Graham, would be back the next year. The young players are exciting, she said, so they plan to keep their season tickets.

As the game wore down to its last minute, the chants of “one more year” returned. Ovechkin was coy in a post-game interview, saying he was focused on trying to make the playoffs. “He’s a machine,” his teammate Tom Wilson said in the locker room afterward. “Every night he steps up in a different way.” Head coach Spencer Carbery said he just “caught myself watching O during certain moments,” like his opening face-off against longtime rival Sidney Crosby. During a postgame press conference, a reporter asked Ovechkin whether he’d give the fans the one more year in town that they asked for. “I will think about it,” he said.

Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.