Ovechkin and Nabokov

That was almost a year ago:

Unlike the others, Ovechkin wasn’t wearing a shirt and there was some apparent light banter between him and Nabokov.

Nabokov couldn’t resist a little dig when asked about Ovechkin showing up without his shirt on.

“Tell him to get a bigger chain,” Nabokov said, seemingly unimpressed with Ovechkin’s choice of gold jewelry. “If we beat them tonight, tell him I’ll buy him a new chain.”

Ovechkin’s response when told of the offer:

“Tell him to buy for himself.”

Guess what, a year later Nabokov has to get Ovie a bigger chain. :-)


Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin scores on San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov during the second period of an NHL hockey game, in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By David Pollak, San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 15, 2009:

WASHINGTON — Until the 2:55 mark of the second period, the Sharks were the only team that Alexander Ovechkin never had scored on in his 330-game NHL career.

"He was talking about that goal for five years and now he's got it," said Nabokov. "I think it was bothering him."

He and Ovechkin, who share the Team Russia locker room in international competition, had just finished a five-minute, postgame conversation and exchange of phone numbers. The two of them, draped only in towels, sat on a bare table outside the Sharks locker room, joined at one point by another likely member of the Russian Olympic team, Capitals forward Alexander Semin.

"We just were talking in general about what's going on," Nabokov said. "It's not any secrets. It's about life and how things are going."

"Ovechkin's got 42 shots on goal already," McLellan said before the game. "That's a career for some players."

Against the Sharks, Ovechkin registered 13 shots, had two others blocked and one more that went wide.

Nabokov's career record was 8-0-0 against Washington, and he said he knew that bothered Ovechkin, too, because of his competitive nature.

"He wants to score on me in practice," he said of their time with Team Russia.

Ovechkin was selected a third star of the day by NHL.com, first star by Yahoo! Sports.

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