Alexander Ovechkin said he supported San Jose as a child – he loved the team’s emblem, where a toothy shark bites a club. Now Alexander has arrived in Northern California and scored a brace against the Sharks.
“Washington” has no room for error
The last time Alexander Ovechkin scored a brace was on January 3, 2023, when he scored Buffalo’s goal twice. But a lot of time and a lot of events have passed since then.
In fact, now – a new life. And if we talk about hockey, then Washington has become completely different. After the deadline, the team said goodbye to elite guard Dmitry Orlov, who is now lighting up in Boston. And the question arises whether the Capitals will even make the playoffs. Washington last missed the Cup spring in 2013/14, despite Ovechkin winning the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top scorer. Nine years have passed since…
Now Washington (68) sits 12th in the Eastern Conference, three points shy of the playoff zone. But to get into the top eight, you have to get past young, fast-growing teams like Ottawa (68), Buffalo (68), next door Florida (68), and try to get out of the generic “Islanders” zone (72 ) and Pittsburgh (71).
“Washington” has only 18 games left in the season, and now every game is truly worth its weight in gold. There is no more chance for a miss.
It’s the atmosphere of the “Capitals” and continue the tour. They lost in Buffalo (4:7), beat Anaheim (3:2 OT) and now they beat San Jose (8:3), showing that there is still gunpowder in their powder flasks .
Sandin: I was terrible in the first half
Interestingly, in the middle of the match, Washington was on fire with the score 0:2. The hosts scored Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov. But from the second period, the Capitals turned into a raging fury, scoring five in a row!
“I think our guys played a really good game,” Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. — After the first period, the guys took to the field and started to play much better hockey, bit into the ice and managed to score a few goals in the second period, after which we perked up noticeably.
It’s important that players who were traded by the deadline showed up for the Capitals. Forward Craig Smith scored his first two goals since arriving in Washington on Feb. 23. And defenseman Rasmus Sandin, who was acquired Tuesday in a trade from the Toronto Bulls for Erik Gustafsson and a first-round pick in the 2023 draft, had three assists. It was his first game with the Capitals.
“I think I was terrible in the first half,” admitted Sandin. “Sometimes I had no idea what I was doing there. But in the second and third periods we became more active as a team and played very well. In general, the match turned out to be fun and it’s good to win this way.
Ovechkin started scoring when the score was already 5-3 in favor of Washington. First, he stood out in the 50th minute, when he received a pass to move Alexander the Great went along the right flank and delivered an accurate shot. It is curious that in California, there were enough fans in the stands wearing red sweaters with the name “Ovechkin” on the back, and children shaking prepared “Let’s go Caps” posters.
In general, it is clear that Ovechkin with his game made Washington a very popular club, which is loved all over the world. And Alexander the Great scored the second goal when he played an incredible combination with Vincent Ayorio – this defenseman played his first game of his NHL career. He came from behind the net and Ovi sent the puck into the net on horseback.
Aiorio: Ovechkin is one of the greatest athletes in this game
Returning to Sandin, he became the first defenseman in Washington history to score three points on his debut. Orlov is now in Boston, the injured John Carlson will not return until late March. But now, in the person of Sandin, the capital club received a defender under the age of majority, who can, among other things, distribute passes to Ovechkin. Thus, Rasmus participated in the combination when Alexander the Great scored his second goal.
And the appearance of guys in defense like Ayorio can only rejoice. When Ovechkin made his NHL debut in October 2005, Vinnie was just two years old. And now he plays with him and distributes passes. If you think about it like that, then Sasha is already a tough veteran, on whose game generations have grown.
“Ovechkin is one of the greatest athletes in this game,” Iorio said after the game. “It was a special moment that I scored my first NHL point when I helped Alex score one of his goals.
Aiorio later added: “When I was on the ice, I was constantly looking for Ovechkin to give him a pass. I think a lot of players do the same. I’m glad I made it.”
San Jose goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen became the 168th goaltender Ovechkin has scored against. Only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marlo (177) have more goalkeepers in their collection. But the second took the eternal NHL record for the number of games, and the first still plays hockey.
Ovechkin scored more than one goal in a game for the 166th time in his career. Most often only Gretzky did it (189). And that we only count the goals? Alexander the Great also climbs the NHL’s all-time leading scorers chart. Now he has 1470 points. He’s already moved away from Stan Mikita for 16th place all-time. Above is Sidney Crosby (1482), and directly in front of him is Paul Coffey (1531).
But above all, Ovechkin continues inexorably to approach Wayne Gretzky (894 goals). Now he has scored 814 and 815 career goals. Only 79 goals remain to tie the NHL’s all-time goalscoring record. And this season, Alexander the Great has already scored 35 goals.
Is it possible to reach fifty dollars with only 18 games left? Yes, if you try hard.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
