However, after the break for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, Ovechkin once again proves to everyone that he is an elite shooter, even at 38 years old. Before the home match against the Colorado Avalanche, the Russian did not leave the field without a goal in five consecutive matches, which has not happened to him for almost three years – since March 2021.
Ovechkin’s personal successes, at least to some extent, may have triggered Washington’s failures. The Capitals are falling further and further from the playoff zone and are in danger of missing the Stanley Cup for a second straight season.
The Caps started the match against Colorado extremely poorly, conceding two goals in the fifth minute. It was Ross Colton and Devon Toews who upset Capital goaltender Charlie Lindgren and immediately gave the Avalanche the momentum they needed.
Washington, however, does not think of giving up and quickly returns to the game. These same five minutes were enough for Spencer Carbery’s men to restore balance in the score. First, Beck Malensteen scored his team’s first goal, and 44 seconds after his goal, Connor McMichael upset Colorado’s Russian goaltender, Alexander Georgiev. 2:2! But only 10 minutes of the first half had passed.
Photo source: NHL
However, fans had to wait almost 20 minutes before the next goal of the match. In the ninth minute of the second 20 minutes, Artturi Lehkonen gave Colorado the lead again. And three minutes before the second break, another Finnish Avalanche legionnaire, Mikko Rantanen, punished Washington for violating the player count.
Washington once again faced the difficult task of overcoming a two-goal deficit against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. However, the Capitals were not going to give up and started the third period in a strong position, forcing the guests to fight back. However, for a long time, the Caps could not break through Georgiev for the third time in the match. It was only in the ninth minute of the decisive period that the capital converted the majority. Alexander Ovechkin did it! The legendary Russian managed to score goals from his “office” – the left throw-in circle.
Ovechkin managed to score a goal for the sixth consecutive game. Something like this hadn’t happened to him for more than five years – the last time a Russian managed to excel in six consecutive meetings was in December 2018! Alexander has already scored 14 goals in the NHL and has closed the gap with Wayne Gretzky in the race for the title of best sniper in NHL history to 58 goals. Ovi has clearly gained momentum and won’t give journalists and pundits a reason to write him off once again.
Then “Washington” flew to “finish off the wounded beast”, but “Colorado” survived (great credit goes to Alexander Georgiev) and at the last minute managed to twice hit the empty goal of the ” capital” and win the victory of the American capital.
Washington lost again. Currently, Spencer Carbury’s team is six points behind the playoff zone. The Capitals clearly need to look for reserves (maybe the GM should work harder at the deadline) if the club doesn’t want to find themselves without a playoff run again. The only provider of positive emotions for Washington fans now is Alexander Ovechkin. Considering the fact that the Caps have 30 games left before the end of the season, Alexander, in his current form, is capable of getting closer to the 30-goal mark for the season, which would close the gap with the record from Gretzky to 40-45 goals. . The Russian’s contract with Washington is valid until the end of the 2025/2026 season, and therefore all interesting things await us!
Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic
Source: Sport
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.
