CALGARY — Tom Wilson smiled when asked about life as a Washington Capital these days.

“Everywhere we go, people are going crazy,” said the veteran winger, who has enjoyed a front-row seat for what has been billed as ‘The Gr8 Chase,’ as performed by Alex Ovechkin.

“It doesn’t matter what city we are in, everywhere he goes everybody stands up instantly with their phones when he walks by. It’s rock star (stuff) right now.

“The amount of pressure coming into this year is substantial and he just continues to impress and wow everybody. It’s pretty cool, and he carries it so well.”

These are indeed fascinating times in Washington, where the motto ought to be, ‘come for the chase, stay for the game.’

Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal scoring record has him just 20 short of eclipsing the Great One’s sacred mark of 894.

But a funny thing has happened on his way to hockey immortality — the team that ol’ Ovi captains just so happens to be at the top of the table.

The best team in hockey, which no one saw coming.

They’ve done so without the services of Ovechkin’s longtime setup man, Nicklas Backstrom, and they’ve done it despite the glare the 39-year-old’s 22 goals have attracted.

“It has affected the team in a positive way,” said coach Spencer Carbery of Ovechkin’s pursuit of hockey’s holiest record. 

“Some people point to it and go, ‘wouldn’t it be a distraction when you’re searching for an individual accolade? Doesn’t it cause issues inside of your structure and playing a team game?’ But it doesn’t at all.

“It actually helps our guys. It energizes our group when he’s going and gets a couple early scoring chances, or scores early in a game. The lift that it gives our group as a whole is incredible.

“He wants to score, no doubt about that. He’s as hungry as anybody to ever play the game to score, but it’s all within the team structure and the team winning a hockey game.”

Carbery insists there’s no selfishness at play, going one step further by suggesting Ovechkin’s brilliance extends to his ability to bring people into the fold, as opposed to living on an island.

“He does a really good job of humanizing himself,” said Carbery.

“Ethen Frank was called up and played his first NHL games a few weeks ago, and now has been in our lineup ever since. He’s got a poster of O in his room as a kid growing up. And so now you’re all of a sudden dressing next to him and playing shifts with him, and O makes it so seamless for people to come into our room, whether it’s coaches myself or new players, and, ‘it’s no big deal, we’re playing together. We’re on the same team.’

“He’ll crack a joke here and there, he’ll bring him right into a team dinner or a drill after practice, and he just makes you feel like you’re just part of the team.”

The team itself, obviously, is deep.

Nine players have at least 10 goals, which includes the emergence of Aliaksei Protas, who is tied with Wilson at 20 goals, and Connor McMichael who has 17. 

The goaltending has been sublime, as Logan Thompson’s shiny new six-year, $35.1-million contract extension on Monday suggests.

“It’s just the tightest group I’ve ever been a part of, and the chemistry is so good in the dressing room, which is why I think we play so hard for each other and the coaches,” said Thompson, who won a Stanley Cup with Vegas.

“That’s a big reason why we’ve had a lot of success. We just don’t quit.”

It sounds an awful lot like the tightness, buy-in and work ethic they’ll see from their opponent in Calgary Tuesday night.