For the first time since 2009, the Washington Capitals home game did not have a full house in the American capital. This coincided with a rare case: the club’s captain, Alexander Ovechkin, did not manage a single shot on target.
Attendance fell to 89%
On Monday night, as the Washington Capitals took on the Calgary Flames, something extraordinary happened at Capital One Arena. Please note: the capital’s team did not have a full house for the first time in 14 years.
Digging deeper into history, Washington games started selling out on March 5, 2009, when the Toronto Maple Leafs came to visit. The head coach of the Capitals at that time was Bruce Boudreau. Alexander Ovechkin had a brilliant season in which he scored 56 goals. This is his third championship in which he has crossed the 50-goal mark. And Washington itself began to play better and that season reached the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1998.
The great hockey depression in the American capital ended, a young Russian leader joined the team – and a hockey boom began, called in Washington the “red wave”. The high point was 2018, when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup, a joyful Ovechkin swam in the fountain, and tens of thousands of fans in red sweaters went crazy with happiness.
There has been no trace of such enthusiasm in recent times. The 2022/23 season turned out to be a failure: Washington did not participate in the playoffs for the first time since 2014. And we cannot say that the team was unlucky, as the same “ Pittsburgh”, which suddenly lost to “Chicago” (2:5) and did not enter the cup eight. These Capitals finished 13th in the Eastern Conference, 12 points out of the playoff zone. The team suffered many injuries and head coach Peter Laviolette was not very active in attracting young people, did not work for the future – which led to his resignation.
Yes, there’s a bright poster that Ovechkin (822) is chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record (894). Alexander was and remains Great, and his tour in the American capital will last at least three more seasons, according to his contract.
But that’s not enough for audiences, and the official streak of 588 consecutive sold-out shows was broken today. Capital One Arena typically attracted 18,573 fans. And 16,489 people gathered to watch the game against Calgary. Immediately minus 2084 spectators, i.e. attendance went from 100 to 89%. And that’s actually an alarming symptom.
Kuznetsov again performed the shooting “on pause”
And what did those who came to hockey see? It’s good that at least there were goals in Washington – after all, in the first home match the Capitals did not score anything against Pittsburgh (0:4).
It’s true that it was as if Washington hadn’t entered the first period against Calgary: they lost it with a score of 3-18 on shots, conceding two goals. But then the owners came to their senses. In the second period, first Matthew Phillips scored the first goal in his career, then Connor McMichael scored, for whom this goal became the tenth in his career. That is, the new coach of Washington, Spencer Carbery, did not step on the rake of his predecessor, but began to develop the youth of the club. What’s also interesting is that Phillips was born in Calgary and the Flames selected him in the sixth round of the 2016 draft. During the offseason, he signed a one-year contract with Washington. And now he showed up in a game against a hometown team.
There was a shootout, and there Evgeny Kuznetsov made his signature attempt, when he very slowly approached the goalkeeper, shuffling the puck, and then fired a clean shot into the corner. Wayne Gretzky once called it a “mockery of goaltenders” and condemned Kuznetsov, calling on the NHL to ban this style of shooting. But how are you going to do this? Kuzya doesn’t break any rules. Each player just has their own style. Moreover, only Kuznetsov converted the shootout, which brought Washington victory. What questions might arise?
Zadorov neutralizes Ovechkin
Well, what about Alexander Ovechkin? For the first time since November 11, 2021, he failed to get a single shot on target. More precisely, Ovi still threw, but three of his attempts were blocked by his opponents, and twice more he missed the target.
And another surprising statistic. I looked at who was on the ice the most against Ovechkin. It turned out that Calgary defender Nikita Zadorov played against him for more than 8 minutes.
That is, “Calgary” gave Zadorov the task of specifically neutralizing Ovechkin. And Nikita precisely has a neutralizing role – in the same matches against Edmonton, he is used against Connor McDavid.
Well, I must say that Zadorov fulfilled his mission: not only did Ovechkin not score a single point in Washington, but he also never hit the target. Zadorov made two blocks, just covering Ovi.
The day after tomorrow, Washington will play in Ottawa, which is not known for floor hockey. Let’s see if Ovechkin can take another step towards Gretzky’s record – because everyone is waiting for it.
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.
