Ovechkin still broke Gretzky’s record. What a shame that Sasha’s father didn’t see that!

No one can stop Ovechkin like that!

In general, few people expected that the half-disassembled “Washington” will be able to win in Boston against one of the best teams in the league.

But the Capitals achieved it, and in a position of strength, by eliminating the Bruins (28-18). TJ Oshie scored in the second period and Dylan Strome scored in the third period on a pass from Ovechkin. And 27 seconds before the end, Alexander the Great himself scored Boston’s empty goal, thus setting the final score 3:0 on the scoreboard.

Ovechkin (834 career goals) is just 60 goals shy of breaking Gretzky’s all-time record (894). But it is very important that he has now overtaken Wayne in the number of pucks scored into an empty net (57 against 56), becoming the absolute leader in the history of the NHL in this category.

Ovechkin’s goal came after he came out of the penalty box late in the third period and intercepted an ill-advised Bruins pass in the Capitals zone before sprinting toward the break. An opponent tried to stop him, but Alexander elegantly sent the puck into the goal – and headed to the bench with a smile.

Try again to score into an empty goal

You are wrong to think that scoring into an empty goal is so easy. Look, today none of the active players could score even 35 empty net goals – Brad Marchand (34), Eric Staal (33), Sidney Crosby (32), Blake Wheeler (31) , Zach Parise (30) are far behind. .

Who are the leaders in this category?

57 – Alex Ovechkin (1,394 NHL games)

56 – Wayne Gretzky (1487)

40 – Marian Hossa (1309)

34 – Brad Marchand (999)

33 – Eric Staal (1365)

33 – Mario Lemieux (915)

32 – Sydney Crosby (1238)

32 – Jerome Iginla (1554)

31 – Blake Wheeler (1170)

30 – Zach Parisé (1227)

More importantly, after an unusually slow start to the season, Ovechkin was a monster once again, scoring for the fourth straight game. Keep it up, Sasha!

Ovi now has 12 goals this season. And according to the schedule, he is aiming for 20 goals. But you can always speed up…

Ovechkin: “I need this puck!” »

“Washington” went on the trip for a reason, but he took his father with him. These types of events often take place in the NHL. And so the fathers, or, as they are called, the “mentors”, were with the team that day.

In the Capitals locker room, players Tom Wilson and John Carlson, who presented the awards, recognized three players who played well but whose fathers recently passed away: TJ Oshie, Joel Edmundson and Alexander Ovechkin. It was like this:

Spencer Carbery, Head Coach: “Today was without a doubt our most complete performance of the season. Great job from all the guys! »

Tom Wilson, forward: “Okay, guys. It’s obviously a special trip with dads. A few guys who are great friends of the team scored some very important goals today. Their fathers are no longer with us… Here’s the puck for TJ Oshie. We love you brother… Eddie (Joel Edmundson), here’s your game puck, hang it somewhere you can see…”

John Carlson, defenseman: “And finally, I have to give you one more puck… It’s awesome, because with that puck we were able to break Wayne Gretzky’s record for empty-net goals.”

The whole team: “Wow! »

Alexander Ovechkin, captain: “I need it, I need it.”

Carlson: “This puck will go in my son Lucca’s room. And we will buy you a new one. Okay, fine, keep this one.

A year ago, Mikhail Viktorovich Ovechkin, Sasha’s father, died after a serious illness. After this, a notable crisis occurred in the game of Alexander the Great. It hit him hard, but, as we see, it didn’t break him.

Oshie lost his father Tim in May 2021 – and scored a hat-trick in his first match back from maternity leave. Edmundson’s father Bob died in January 2022 from lung cancer.

Ovechkin’s father was not in the locker room that day with his great, wonderful son. But we think that Uncle Misha saw this match from the sky – and was sincerely happy for Sasha.