As Alexander Ovechkin approaches the all-time goals record, the National Hockey League is working to enhance viewership for the games where this milestone could occur. Consequently, the NHL has made schedule adjustments for three late-season matches involving the Washington Capitals.
The affected games include the March 27 match against the Minnesota Wild, the April 12 contest with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the April 17 face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Washington has provided specifics regarding these changes on the team website.
March 27: Washington at Minnesota will be broadcast on ESPN+ and HULU, in addition to the originally scheduled Monumental Sports Network broadcast. The game will now commence at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT, a change from the initial start time of 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT.
April 12: The game featuring Washington at Columbus will air exclusively on ABC at 12:30 p.m. ET, down from the previously scheduled 7 p.m. ET on Monumental Sports Network.
April 17: The matchup between Washington and Pittsburgh will be shown on Monumental Sports Network along with ESPN, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
The Capitals have 14 games left before facing the Wild on March 27, 21 games ahead of the April 12 meeting with the Blue Jackets, and 25 games to go prior to the April 17 clash with the Penguins, which marks Washington’s final regular season game. Predicting when Ovechkin will break the record can be challenging; as of Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames, he had 882 goals, just 12 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894.
