“Utah” – “Washington Capitals” – 2:6
Ovechkin has been performing outstandingly this season at the age of 39. Few expected him to score a goal after a controversial season but the Eight are playing like they did in their best years. This time “Utah” was attacked.
The new NHL team hosted the Capitals in Salt Lake City and lost with a score of 2:6. Ovechkin hit his opponent’s goal twice; These goals were his 14th and 15th goals of the season. It seemed like nothing could overshadow his victory, but Utah forward Jack McBain had a different opinion. He crashed into Ovechkin’s knee at high speed in a segment that posed no threat to his team.
It is unlikely that McBain acted deliberately to permanently neutralize the Caps’ Russian leader. However, this connection meant that Ovechkin could only get off the ice with the help of teammate Jacob Chickran. And if at first he still remained on the bench, then he completely entered the room under the stands. At the end of the game, Capitals forward Tom Wilson got revenge on Ovi by fighting with McBain, but it didn’t make much light on the situation.
“Ovechkin is being examined”
Washington head coach Spencer Carbery spoke about his team captain’s situation after the game. He noted that few details are available at this time.
“It’s being examined at the moment. We have a day off tomorrow to learn more about the nature of the damage,” says Carbery. press service “metropolitan”.
The expert also evaluated Ovechkin’s play this season. He described their performance as outstanding.
“You see he’s had an outstanding season. He’s the leader of the team, not only on the ice but also in the locker room. “He doesn’t stop scoring goals and that’s great,” the coach said.
“Ovi’s injury is terrible”
Teammates talked about their captain’s injury. Forward Nic Dowd did not hide his discomfort.
“This sucks. It wasn’t easy to see this; Ovi is in very good shape, he is very important for the team. Alex is our captain. “You have to score to win, and he plays incredible hockey,” Dowd said.
Caps goaltender Charlie Lindgren expressed a similar sentiment.
“Ovechkin is our trump card, our leader. It’s hard to see his wound. I don’t know yet how serious this damage is. This is a guy who not only scores goals on the ice, but also does the right things. And he’s captain for a reason,” Lindgren concluded.
Ovechkin’s records
Despite his injury, Alexander managed to break and repeat a number of league records. But the attention is focused on the real thing: the legendary Wayne Gretzky’s race for sniper success. After his double against Utah, Ovechkin had 26 goals left before repeating the great Canadian’s record. Judging by the pace he has shown this season, the record could fall very soon, barring injuries.
Utah became the 32nd team on which Ovechkin scored a goal in his NHL career. Utah goalkeeper Connor Ingram became the 178th goalkeeper in the league to miss the Russian striker’s goal. In this indicator, Ovi repeated the record of the Czech Jaromir Jagr. Following his doubleheader against Utah, the Washington captain single-handedly leads the NHL sharpshooter race since January 2022. He currently has 15 goals in 18 games.
“We witness his greatness every night. There are no words to describe how impressive it is,” this is how the NHL press service on the social network X reacted to Alexander’s goals.
In the last match, Ovechkin achieved unique success.
He became the first player in league history to play 100 matches on foreign ice and score two or more goals.
It is noteworthy that in this indicator none of his followers even reached 90 matches. Gretzky had 83 games and Brett Hull had 72.
The Big Eight set another record. At the age of 39 years and 62 days in the Utah match, Ovechkin became the oldest player to score a goal in at least five consecutive periods. As far as we remember, he scored a hat-trick in the Vegas match (5:2). Previously, this success belonged to Finnish Teem Selanna, who achieved this at the age of 38. Additionally, Ovi scored in five consecutive periods for the second time in his career. Joe Malone did it five times and Gretzky did it three times.
Ovechkin also repeated two feats by his longtime rival, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby. The Caps leader, like Crosby, has scored 42 NHL arena goals. He also scored two or more goals in a match for the 30th club in the league; a similar feat goes to Crosby.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.