Ovechkin leads Washington into NHL playoffs
Alexander Ovechkin has scored four goals and made one assist in his last five games. But for a long time all the efforts of the Russian captain were not enough, and Washington fell into a crisis of six defeats in a row.
Just when it looked like there was no longer any hope of making it to the play-offs, a miracle happened: the Capitals earned a long-awaited victory, and they did it away and against a direct rival to save eighth place in the Eastern Conference. – Detroit Red Wings (2:1) .
There was also some luck: the “wings” played much better in attack, but Washington goalkeeper Charlie Lindgren turned on God mode and stopped 42 of 43 shots, thereby being recognized as the third NHL star of the day.
Thanks to his efforts, the Capitals stayed in the game for a long time and punished Detroit for all the missed opportunities at the end of the second period.
Washington’s top scorer Dylan Strome scored in the 38th minute, and Ovechkin doubled the capital’s difference in the 40th minute.
TJ Oshie caught the puck in the middle of the ice and passed it to Ovechkin, who entered his favorite left encounter circle and sent a bullet almost to the “nine” – 2:0!
It later turned out that this was the winning goal, because two seconds before the final siren Detroit still managed to score the puck (1:2) and break Lindgren’s goal.
Thanks to this win, Washington rose to eighth place in the NHL Eastern Conference with 85 points, while Detroit fell to 10th place with 84 points.
There are only four matches left until the end of the regular season and the capital must make every effort to maintain its place in the standings.
Ovechkin set a new record
Usually, every goal Ovechkin scores comes with a record. That’s what happened this time too.
His puck haul against the Red Wings was his 30th of the current NHL regular season. Like this,
Ovechkin now has 18 seasons in which he scored 30 or more goals, setting an absolute record in this indicator.
A similar feat previously belonged to Canadian NHL legend Mike Gartner, who managed to captain the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers: he scored 30 or more goals in 17 seasons.
In connection with this success, Gartner recorded a congratulatory video to Ovechkin, which was published by the capital’s press service.
“Ovi, congratulations on your 18th season scoring 30 or more goals. We shared this record for a very short time (one year – socialbites.ca) and I really appreciate it. Now this success belongs to you. You have many records in the NHL and you have another great one to conquer. Good luck!” said Gartner.
By the way, as for Wayne Gretzky’s “eternal” goal record in the NHL: Ovechkin has 42 goals left to repeat it. The Russian football player currently has 852 goals throughout his entire career in the league, while Gretzky has 894 goals.
It is also worth noting that the Russian player is the sixth player in NHL history to start the season at the age of 38 or over and manage to score 30 goals. Previously, only Gordie Howe, Johnny Busiek, Brett Hull, Teem Selanne and Martin San-Louis had accomplished this.
Moreover, according to QuantHockey, Ovechkin is leading St. Louis in goals in the NHL at the age of 38. He rose to equal third place with St. Louis. Busiek (31) ranks second and Hull (37) ranks first. It looks like very soon the Russians will break this record.
This season, the Big Eight has totaled 30 goals and 33 assists in 75 games in the NHL regular season.
Ovechkin thanked his partners for their help
The Washington captain did not forget to praise TJ Oshie, the author of the assist that contributed to their new success.
“Oshie did a great job at the blue line (received the puck after the opponent’s errant pass. – socialbites.ca) and we went two to one.” I knew there were 15-20 seconds left until the siren went off. So I tried to shoot and hoped the puck would go into the goal. That’s what happened,” the official NHL website quotes Ovechkin as saying.
The Russian player was also happy to be able to score 30 goals at such a high level at the age of 38.
“That’s a pretty big number. I achieved this thanks to consistency and health, as well as my line and my teammates who found me in open ice,” he said.
Washington will next play the Buffalo Sabers on April 12. Let’s hope Ovechkin’s goal-scoring success continues.