WINNIPEG — Josh Morrissey is both hockey nut and student of the game.
The Winnipeg Jets defenceman has a keen appreciation for storylines that capture the sport's attention.
Alex Ovechkin's relentless pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goal mark — a quest that's now into single digits — is one such narrative.
Morrissey just doesn't want the Russian superstar inching any closer Tuesday.
Winnipeg hosts Ovechkin, who sits just seven goals back of eclipsing Gretzky's all-time record of 894, and the Washington Capitals in a marquee matchup packed with intrigue.
The teams are in a dogfight atop the standings for the league's best regular-season record. The Capitals (47-15-8) enter with 102 points, two better than Jets (48-19-4) in the Presidents' Trophy race.
Winnipeg will also have a reimagined top line because of injury, while Washington's campaign under Spencer Carbery has the second-year bench boss looking like the runaway winner of the Jack Adams Award as the league's top coach.
Ovechkin, however, is a storyline that trumps all.
The 39-year-old winger sits at 888 career goals, including 35 across just 54 games in 2024-25 after missing 16 contests with a broken leg earlier in the schedule.
"How can that not be an exciting time to be a part of that team?" Morrissey said of Ovechkin's pursuit following Monday's practice. "I assume it's a point of energy for them."
Ovechkin, with 13 games left on the 2024-25 schedule to catch Gretzky, has energized the Capitals for the last two decades.
The top pick at the 2004 draft owns nine separate 50-goal seasons, including the 65 he scored in 2007-08, and has reached at least 40 a jaw-dropping 13 times as part of run that included the lockout-shortened 2012-13 schedule and two pandemic-stunted campaigns.
"Whenever you have a chance to be (in) the same era with a player like him, it's so much fun," Jets forward Nino Niederreiter said. "It's very fascinating to to see."
Ovechkin looked to be slowing down when he bagged just 33 goals in 2016-17 before emphatically striking back with a combined 148 over the next three seasons to put him 41 short of the Great One's record — once thought unattainable — heading into training camp.
"It's one thing to have a good year, a couple of good years or extrapolate that out for a decade … he's done it for much more than that," Morrissey said. "The consistency of his ability to score is why he's going to break that record.
"The whole league is in awe."
Jets head coach Scott Arniel has been impressed with how the Capitals have managed the circus around Ovechkin's chase.
"It was going to be a huge focus," he said. "They've won a lot of hockey games … Ovi's playing (and) it isn't just about scoring goals. He's playing the right way."
In his first season as Winnipeg's head coach, Arniel was an assistant with Washington immediately after the Capitals' secured the franchise's first Stanley Cup victory in 2018.
The veteran bench boss sees a lot of similarities between the current group and the one that ground through four rounds just over seven years ago.
"(Ovechkin) was a big part of playing that way," Arniel said. "They're a deep team, they're a big team, they're getting a lot of contributions.
"And having Ovi out there … it doesn't take him much if he gets that puck on his stick."
The Jets, meanwhile, will be minus top-line winger Gabriel Vilardi (upper-body injury, week-to-week) after he was hurt in Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Alex Iafallo will take is spot Tuesday.
"Really disappointing," Arniel said of losing the 25-year-old Vilardi, who's meshed well with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. "Bit of a freak situation."
Winnipeg and Washington played a wild 5-4 overtime affair Feb. 1 that saw Ovechkin tie things 4-4 in the third period with his 877th goal before Morrissey clinched the extra point with his second of the night.
"I don't know that we'll see the fireworks again or more of a true-to-form matchup," the blueliner said of clubs that largely rely on defensive structure. "Just goes to show that when both teams are near the top of the standings, you can play multiple styles."
Morrissey's first taste of NHL hockey, coincidentally, came in 2013 against Ovechkin when Winnipeg faced Washington in pre-season.
The 18-year-old, peach-fuzzed Morrissey couldn't believe what was lining up on the other side.
"I was like, 'I've never seen a guy this big on the ice," he said of the Capitals' No. 8. "I was kind of star-struck."
Going further back, Morrissey was 10 when Ovechkin entered the league a flashy rookie in 2005.
"Peak of my hockey-card-collecting era," said the 29-year-old from Calgary. "My first-ever experience of wearing an NHL sweater and seeing him flying down the ice was pretty intimidating.
"Something I'll never forget."
The Jets are aiming to make Tuesday a night no one remembers on Ovechkin's march to history.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
