Jordan Binnington was a part of history on Wednesday night — and then he tried to steal a part of history.
The St. Louis Blues goalie was caught trying to snag the puck from Alexander Ovechkin’s milestone 900th career goal after the Washington Capitals captain scored past him.
Ovechkin beat Binnington 2:39 into the second period after collecting a puck that bounced off the end boards and backhanding it past the diving goaltender into the open net.
But during the wild celebration, as the Capitals’ bench emptied to congratulate their captain on becoming the first player in NHL history to reach the milestone, Binnington attempted to pull off a sneaky heist of the artifact.
As he skated away from his crease towards the Blues bench, Binnington took the puck out of his glove and slid it down the side of his pants.
While it may have gone unnoticed by many, linesman Michel Cormier was wise to the scheme and approached Binnington when he returned to the net, asking the Canadian goalie to politely return the historic puck.
Cormier then took the puck and brought it over to the Capitals bench.
“At least he can say he saved a puck tonight,” one user commented on X.
“Is that Nic Cage in there?” another asked, referencing action movie National Treasure, in which Cage’s character steals the Declaration of Independence in Washington, D.C.
Post-game, Capitals goalie Logan Thompson didn’t think there was anything nefarious about Binnington pocketing the puck.
“I don’t know, maybe he was trying to grab it to give it to him,” Thompson told reporters in Washington.
Binnington later told Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic that, despite how it looked, he had no intentions of keeping the puck.
“Yeah, I figured … basically had an assist on the goal there, turning the puck over, didn’t think he’d mind sharing (the puck),” Binnington said. “I had full intention to give it back to him … yeah, full intention to give it back.”
Ovechkin’s record
Ovehckin became the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer last season when he scored his 895th career goal in April to pass Wayne Gretzky.
He entered the 2025-26 season needing three goals to reach the 900-goal mark and scored his first of the campaign on Oct. 17 against the Minnesota Wild. A week later, he potted No. 899 against the Columbus Blue Jackets before burying No. 900 on Wednesday night.
“A couple days ago somebody asked me, ‘Do you think about (900)?’ Of course, it’s huge number, no one ever did it in NHL history and to be the first player to ever do it, it’s a special moment,” Ovechkin said. “It’s nice it’s over to get it in the homestand so the fans, my family can be here. It’s pretty cool.”
Ovechkin, who turned 40 in September, has one year left on his contract with the Capitals, but has not spoken about retirement.