Ovechkin leads Washington to victory over Ottawa
The Washington Capitals played an extremely tough game against the Ottawa Senators, who are actively fighting to get into the NHL playoffs and have won their last three games.
Within 60 minutes, the Capitals could not open the door to Ottawa. This is only the second time this season the Capitals have been held goalless in regulation time (0-0).
It looked like a point drop was imminent, but in the fourth minute of overtime, Alexander Ovechkin scored a tough victory for Washington.
The 39-year-old Russian striker went on a counter-attack, took the puck from his Swedish teammate Rasmus Sandin and with a powerful wrist shot almost hit the “nine” from the left front face circle – 1:0!
“I knew I had to shoot as fast as possible because the goalie is expecting me to pass the pass back to Sandin,” Ovechkin said after the game. Official website of the NHL. “It was a good shot and the puck went in, so I’m happy.”
This victory allowed Washington to further consolidate its first place in the NHL Eastern Conference: The club has 65 points in 45 games played.
Gretzky’s record is 20 goals away
For Ovechkin, this goal was the 874th of his entire NHL career. So the Russian has only 20 goals left before repeating Wayne Gretzky’s “eternal” record (894)!
It is significant that after the game, Ovechkin praised Washington goalkeeper Logan Thompson, who did not allow a single goal against Ottawa.
“Logan was incredible today. He had a great performance in all three periods and overtime. We found many positions in the third period. “It accumulated like a snowball and in the end we scored,” said the Russian.
Ovechkin’s new records
Ottawa goaltender Leevi Merilainen became the 179th goaltender in the NHL to miss Alexander Ovechkin.
In this way, the Russian player broke Jaromir Jagr’s record for the number of goals scored by a goalkeeper in the league. The legendary Czech player upset 178 goalkeepers at the same time and retained the championship in this indicator for a long time.
Additionally, Ovechkin set a new NHL record for overtime goals in away games.
Now Alexander the Great has 13 such goals: he surpasses the feat of Jaromir Jagr and Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares; each scored 12 goals in overtime in NHL away games.
Finally, Ovi also improved the NHL record for overtime goals; he now has 27 such goals. The closest follower, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, has 22 such goals.
It is also worth noting that the Russians scored the winning goal for Washington for the 134th time. In this indicator, it is enough for Jaromir Jagr to once again bring victory to the team to repeat his record: he has 135 decisive goals.
“Ovechkin plays for Washington, not Russia”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in a new interview, answered the question of whether the league is worried about the fact that the Russian forward could break Wayne Gretzky’s historical record in the current political situation.
“As far as we know, Ovechkin plays for the Washington Capitals. He’s not playing for Russia… This is a personal achievement for Ovechkin and Washington, that’s all,” Bettman quotes. sports network.
Washington head coach Spencer Carbery was full of compliments for his team captain following the game against Ottawa.
“We continue to tick the boxes of his remarkable career. Alex scores goals against different goalkeepers, in different arenas and against every team. What he has done is simply incredible,” the NHL website quotes Carbery as saying.
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.