All posts by Jack Baer

Canucks become 1st team in NHL history to erase 3-goal lead in final minute, stun Stars in OT

Congrats Duke basketball, you no longer have the most mortifying collapse of the month.

The Vancouver Canucks erased a three-goal lead in the final minute of regulation on Tuesday, then stunned the Dallas Stars in overtime for an unprecedented win. Per the NHL, no team had ever lost after holding a three-goal lead in the final three minutes, let alone one.

What makes the comeback even more absurd is the Stars entered the third period with a three-goal lead. The Canucks had the deficit cut to a single goal within five minutes, but goals from Mavrik Bourque and Mikael Granlund in the final minutes should have put the game out of reach, theoretically.

Down 5-2, the Canucks got a goal from Aatu Raty with just less than a minute left. Then Pius Suter to cut the deficit to one again. Then Suter scored one more time to stun the American Airlines Center.

Because no historic comeback is complete without a win, the Canucks finished the job in overtime. The game was less than two minutes from a shootout when Kiefer Sherwood put it to bed.

"I love the fight. The third period, to do that, it's a character win for the team," Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. "My son texted me 'You looked like last year's team.'" 

The 2023-24 Canucks went 50-23-9.

Vancouver Canucks' Victor Mancini (90), Nils Hoglander, center, and Aatu Raty (54) celebrate after Mancini scored on a power-play against the Dallas Stars in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Did the Canucks really just do that? (AP Photo/LM Otero)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Comebacks were something of a theme Tuesday night, as the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks also erased a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The win allowed the 36-29-13 Canucks to stay alive in the playoff race, but they still need plenty of help with six points separating them from the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and four games to play. If their season ends next week, they can at least say they did something no other team did. 

The Stars, meanwhile, have already clinched a playoff spot. So they have that going for them.

Alex Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky: Capitals-Islanders tickets jump in price with star on verge of breaking goals record

Alex Ovechkin tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record was a great moment for hockey. The game he breaks the record will be even better, and tickets are being priced accordingly.

The Washington Capitals star is on the verge of breaking a record that has stood for 2 1/2 decades after scoring two goals Friday, pushing his career total even with Gretzky's mark of 894. With six games remaining on the regular-season schedule, he is widely expected to reach 895 in the next two weeks.

Ovechkin's first opportunity will be on the road Sunday against the New York Islanders at the UBS Arena.

Despite that game being a few hours north of D.C., hockey fans are already spending big to be in the building in case Ovechkin breaks the record. As of Saturday afternoon, the cheapest tickets just to enter the arena are $274 on SeatGeek, $287 on StubHub and $350 on TickPick.

Lower-bowl prices are even more eye-watering, with the latter service's cheapest tickets coming at $626.

The get-in price for the Islanders' following home game against the New York Rangers on Thursday: $54 at SeatGeek.

Sunday's prices could very well pale in comparison to what it will be like in Washington should Ovechkin go scoreless. Even now, the Capitals' home game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday has tickets starting at $454 on SeatGeek, $434 on StubHub and $547 on TickPick, with lower-bowl prices in the thousands.

So you would imagine there are now Caps fans rooting against Ovechkin scoring for the first time in their lives. They at least have goaltending on their side for Sunday, as Ovechkin has never scored on Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 4: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals gestures to the crowd after scoring his 894th career goal during the third period of a game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Arena on April 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Ovechkin's goal ties him with Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goal scoring record. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/NHLI via Getty Images)
Alex Ovechkin is about to make generational NHL history. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/NHLI via Getty Images)
Jess Rapfogel via Getty Images

Judging from what he said publicly, Ovechkin will want to break the record at the Capital One Arena, his professional home since the Capitals drafted him first overall in 2004. He got visibly emotional when discussing what it meant to just tie Gretzky's record at home with his family in attendance after Friday's game.

Some people guaranteed tickets for the rest of Ovechkin's chase will be Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who began following the Russian this week to ensure they are present when he breaks the record. Ovechkin's next goal will see a break in play and an in-game recognition, regardless of location.

Alex Ovechkin confirms he refused to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record with an empty net

Alex Ovechkin wants to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record the right way.

The Washington Capitals star had an opportunity to not only score his unprecedented 895th career goal, but do it as part of a hat trick. He had two goals early in the third period to tie Gretzky at 894, but Chicago pulled its goalie while down 4-3 and gave him too good of an opportunity with an empty net.

Ovechkin could be seen telling Washington head coach Spencer Carbery he didn't want to come in, and confirmed he was doing so after the game. It was an understandable decision, as Ovechkin's next goal will be a highlight reel for decades to come.

You don't want that to be an empty-netter.

One player who did stay in was Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard, who notched his first career goal in his third career game.

Chicago put goalie Spencer Knight back in the game after that, so Ovechkin came back in and nearly got the hat trick anyway. He got four shot attempts off in the final two minutes and was agonizingly close to the record-breaking goal, but Knight had other plans.

The Capital One Arena crowd booed Knight for his efforts.

Ovechkin didn't get the hat trick, but the Capitals did get a 5-3 win. He now has six games remaining in the regular season to surpass Gretzky, with his next opportunity on Sunday on the road against the New York Islanders. If he wants to do it at home, he'll have to wait until Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The whole moment clearly means a lot to Ovechkin, so it's no surprise he only plans to break a record that has stood for two-and-a-half decades with a goaltender in front of him. Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will continue to follow him until he does so, with Gretzky cheering him on.