Alex Ovechkin welcomes Carey Price back to the NHL.

 In the world of professional sport you expect to see players on opposing teams form competitive rivalries, but from those rivalries often comes a measure of respect and we saw such a display on Sunday night when the Washington Capitals took on the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal Canadiens star goaltender Carey Price has had a long road back to the National Hockey League this season after first voluntarily checking into the league's Player Assistance Program, followed by a long rehab from injury that included several setbacks along the way. Price however did make his return to the NHL last week, playing in his first game of the 2021 - 2022 NHL regular season, and it would seem that even some of his opponents were happy to see him make his return.

Although Price was on the bench for the entire duration of the game, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin would go out of his way to salute the veteran netminder in a show of mutual respect between the two star caliber players. It is unclear if Ovechkin was just happy to see Price or if he was congratulating him on his return to play, but either way it was a nice moment between two of the biggest names in the sport of hockey today.

The French language broadcast of the Canadiens game caught the moment:

Although Ovechkin and Price would seem like natural enemies given that they both play in the Eastern Conference and both play in roles that inevitably are forced to compete against one another, there has long since been a mutual respect between these two high level athletes. Even in situations where you would think frustration would take over, that hasn't been the case with these two titans of hockey.

For example back in 2018 with the game tied and the game on Ovechkin's stick with only seconds remaining on the clock, Price would make a circus save only to have Ovechkin be the very first player to congratulate him on his effort.