Caps Broadcaster, NHL Work Deal to Make Sure Long-Time Broadcaster Calls Ovechkin Record-Breaking Goal

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is just nine goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky's previously thought-to-be unsurpassable record of 894 career goals.

With so few goals left and 17 games left to be played, it looks very possible that Ovechkin will become the league's all-time goal-scoring leader this season.

However, there's a bit of a problem. One that the NHL and the Capitals have found a solution to.

Capitals games are broadcast on Monumental Sports Network which features play-by-play man Joe Beninati and color commentator Alan May (who is standing in for color commentator Craig Laughlin who is out of the booth at the moment recovering from heart surgery).

Beninati and Laughlin have been broadcasting together for around 30 years, which means they've called Ovechkin's entire NHL career since he entered the league during the 2005-06 season.

So, it's only fitting that Beninati (and Laughlin if he's ready to return) are on the call for the record-breaking tally.

But here's the problem: four of the Capitals' final 17 games are national broadcasts.  The games in question are: April 6 against the Islanders on TNT, April 10 against the Carolina Hurricanes on ESPN+, April 12 in Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on ABC, and, finally, another meeting with the Islanders on April 15 on Long Island, which will be on ESPN.

The NHL worked out a way to make sure Capital play-by-play announcer joe Beninati is on the call for Alex OVechkin's record-breaking goal, even if it happens during a national televised game. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/NHLI via Getty Images)

This typically means that there's no regional broadcast, so Beninati gets the night off. However, given the somewhat high chance that Ovechkin breaks the record on one of those nights, the league has decided that Monumental Sports Network can produce a broadcast for what The Washington Post described as "archival purposes," which will not air live but can be broadcast 24 hours later.

"We don’t know when Alex is going to do it. Hopefully sooner than later. And at the same time, as a company, as a network, all of us want to be involved to the fullest," Beninati said. "To have a normal, in-game, live game experience with that historic moment would be wonderful for all of us. For the longest of times, for the 20 years that we’ve covered him, it’s been leading up to this momentous occasion."

This is awesome, and hats off to the NHL for doing the right thing and figuring out a way to make sure that the right guys are on the call for history… whenever it comes.