- Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored his 900th career goal on Nov. 5.
- St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington picked up the milestone puck and tucked it in his pants.
- A linesman spotted the move and made Binnington return the puck.
Washington Capitals players poured onto the ice to mob Alex Ovechkin after he scored his 900th career goal during the second period on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
They weren’t paying attention to where the milestone puck was.
But St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington knew its location. The feisty netminder, who had given up the goal on an Ovechkin backhander, picked up the puck and tucked it inside his pants.
But he didn’t get away with it.
Linesman Michel Cormier had spotted the move. He talked to the goalie in his crease and Binnington reached into his pants and gave the puck to the on-ice official.
Ovechkin laughed when asked by reporters after the game about the incident.
‘Yeah, I just saw it,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to comment.’
Ovechkin’s goal had given the Capitals a 2-0 lead at 2:39 of the second period.
Anthony Beauvillier and John Carlson scored within the next seven minutes, and Binnington was pulled in favor of Joel Hofer.
Binnington, the 4 Nations Face-Off-winning goalie, fell to 3-5-2 with a 3.34 goals-against average and .859 save percentage.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
