Ovechkin closed the gap on Gretzky
Washington Capitals achieved the most dominant victory of recent years by defeating Evgeni Malkin’s Pittsburgh Penguins team 6-0 on the road. The capital’s captain, Alexander Ovechkin, made a great contribution to this victory with the goal and assist he scored.
Washington took the lead in the second minute of the match with the goal of the most experienced player Tom Wilson (1:0). However, the Caps, despite clearly outscoring Pittsburgh, did not score again until the end of the first period.
Thanks to such a chance, Malkin’s team had a chance to raise its head and change the course of the game, but these hopes were quickly destroyed by Ovechkin. The captain of “Washington” converted the power play in the first minute of the second period, waited for the puck to successfully return near the “penny” and brought the puck right into the corner – 2:0.
It was Ovechkin’s 18th goal of the season and 10th in the last 15 games.
Thanks to this goal, Alexander the Great came within 54 goals of Wayne Gretzky’s “eternal” goal record in the NHL regular season. Now the Russian has 840 goals and Gretzky has 894.
Ovechkin could have narrowed the gap even further, but he hit the post offensively from the left crown circle, his favorite “office”. The two were very close against Pittsburgh.
The 15 top scorers in the NHL
The Russian striker stood out with his assist in this match as well.
In the second period – with the score 3:0 in favor of Washington thanks to a goal by Nick Jensen – Ovechkin received the puck behind the Pittsburgh goal and quickly passed it to Trevor Van Riemsdyk, who was in a more favorable position.
All that remained for Tom was to roll forward a few meters to Hendrix Lapierre, who successfully positioned himself near Pittsburgh’s “nickel” and instantly sent the bullet into the goal – 4:0.
Thanks to two points in the match against Pittsburgh, Ovechkin surpassed the legendary Paul Coffey (one of the best defensemen in the league in the 1980-1990s) and rose to 15th place in the list of the best scorers in NHL history.
The Russian player currently has 1532 points (840 goals + 692 assists) in 1405 matches played, while Coffey has 1531 points.
Ovechkin’s next goal is Mark Recchi’s (1,533 points in 1,652 games). So just one point separates the Big Eight from 14th place on the league’s top scorers list.
Among active hockey players, Ovechkin ranks second in this indicator only behind Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby (1565 points in 1251 games), who takes 12th place in the rating.
And the absolute owner of the NHL record for most points is Gretzky. He has 2857 points in 1487 matches.
It is worth noting that, thanks to this assist, Ovechkin came close to the legendary Russian Sergei Fedorov in the list of the best assists in the history of the league.
This assist for Alexander the Great was the 692nd assist in his career. According to this indicator, it ranks 64th. Fedorov, ranked 63rd, has 696 assists.
If we consider the 2023/24 season, Ovechkin has now scored 47 points (18 goals + 29 assists) in 58 games.
The first disc of the Russian who beat cancer
20-year-old Russian forward Ivan Miroshnichenko joined the Washington Capitals team in May 2023, just a year after beating cancer: He had Hodgkin lymphoma, a malignant disease that forms in lymphoid tissue.
Miroshnichenko played most of the time for Washington’s farm club, the Hershey Bears, but was called up to the main team on February 26 and scored his first goal in the NHL about a week later.
Miroshnichenko made a clever opening in Pittsburgh’s backfield, receiving the pass behind Dylan Strome’s goal, beating goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic with one flick of his stick and rolling the puck past him into the far corner (5:0).
Such a masterful goal showed that the 20-year-old Russian striker has excellent technique and remarkable composure.
Ovechkin emotionally congratulated his young compatriot on the goal, slapping his knee and helmet several times and then jokingly rubbing his nose.
“I was shocked that I scored in the first seconds,” Miroshnichenko said in an interview with the club’s press service. – Finally happened! It took me a long time to get there and the road was difficult. I hope this isn’t my last goal in the NHL. Ovechkin’s reaction? Uncle Sasha was expected to react this way. I was very pleased”.
The 20-year-old Russian player was determined as the third star of the match. The second was Dylan Strome, who scored a hat-trick of assists, while the first was Washington goalkeeper Charlie Lindgren, who turned 39 shots into the goal.
Washington heading to playoffs
Washington’s sixth last goal against Pittsburgh was also scored with the participation of a Russian hockey player: Caps’ 24-year-old defenseman Alexander Alekseev provided an assist.
He received a pass from Dylan Strome, who was in front of Pittsburgh’s backfield, but did not throw himself, but rolled to Sonny Milano, who, without resistance, shot on goal from a tight angle (6:0).
Thanks to this victory, Washington scored 67 points in 61 games and currently sits in tenth place in the NHL Eastern Conference.
The Capitals need to rise to at least an eighth seed to make the playoffs and compete for the season’s main trophy, the Stanley Cup.
This spot is currently occupied by the Tampa Bay Lightning (72 points), led by Nikita Kucherov, but they have played three more games than Washington. Therefore, if the “capital” continues to win, it still has a chance to take the last place in the play-offs.
Washington’s next game will be against the Chicago Blackhawks. The meeting will take place on March 10 at 03:00 Moscow time.