Ovechkin's double and Kuznetsov's supergol

The Washington Capitals still managed to snatch their first win in the series against the New York Islanders after three defeats in a row.

After the Capitals were on the edge of the abyss, Alexander Ovechkin promised that his team would not give up in the next match. He recalled that 0-3 in the series is not yet a verdict in the Stanley Cup.

“I think we played a pretty decent match today. We just haven't achieved the desired result. But I'm sure the next match will be completely different. That's for sure. We have nothing to lose now. So you just have to go out and play without thinking about the series score. We will go from match to match. We have experience. Several teams in the past have recouped from 0: 3, and we believe in ourselves, ”the official website of the NHL quoted Ovechkin.

And the Russian striker kept his word. Washington won a strong-willed victory over the Islanders, and the captain of the Capitals himself made the most significant contribution to it. It is symbolic that Ovechkin became the hero of the match on the birthday of his son Sergei.

However, the beginning of the fourth match of the series for the "capital" is very difficult. Less than ten minutes later, Braden Holtby conceded two goals. He himself and the field players were wrong. In the episode with the second goal, Ilya Kovalchuk behaved strangely, who went to change immediately after Matthew Barzal dodged him. A few seconds later it was Barzal who doubled the score.

In this series, "Washington" has not yet thrown more spirit of the washers, so to win he had to literally jump over his head. But Todd Reyarden's wards could not distinguish themselves even after two consecutive deletions of New Yorkers. When Ovechkin had already received the penalty, it began to seem that the Islanders would finally finish off the opponent.

But it was at this moment that the Capitals showed character and fought back, and immediately after Evgeny Kuznetsov walked alone to someone else's goal and managed to break through Semyon Varlamov, who had previously made several impressive saves. The excellent goal of his compatriot immediately inspired Ovechkin. One pass to the left face-off circle was enough for him to level the score with a powerful snap. Throughout the second period, Washington continued to dominate the ice and surpassed the Islanders in the number of shots on target - 15: 7.

And in the third period, Ovechkin managed to save his team from relegation from the Stanley Cup. After the unsuccessful attack of the Islanders in the fourth minute, Dmitry Orlov sent the captain of Washington forward on the right flank, and he threw the puck, which became the victorious one. At the end of the match, Ovechkin could even have become the author of a hat-trick, but did not hit the empty goal.

“If we continue to play like this, we will have good chances to win back. We will focus on every meeting and strive for victory. We won one game, and now we move on to the next, ”Ovechkin said after the match in which he was named the best player.

The captain of “Washington” not only brought victory to his team, but also scored 69 goals in the playoffs. He finished 18th in NHL history, beating Gordie Howe and Sidney Crosby. Ovechkin scored 13 of his goals in matches in which his team was threatened with relegation from the Stanley Cup. He also scored a double in the playoffs for the ninth time and repeated Evgeni Malkin's Russian record.

The rescue of Khudobin and the calm among the Russians

If Washington still needs to try to win three wins to advance to the next round, then the Dallas Stars only need one. The Texas team led 3-2 in the run with the Calgary Flames after a 2-1 win.

One of the heroes of the meeting was Anton Khudobin. The Dallas goalkeeper made 28 saves. The only misfire he made at the end of the first period, when he did not have time to react to a long-range shot by Mikael Bäcklund. By that time, the Stars had already opened an account, so the missed puck did not become a disaster for the Texans. In the third period, John Klingberg brought Dallas victory.

Khudobin never missed in the minority, although his teammates violated the rules four times. Alexander Radulov and Denis Guryanov did not make effective actions and made only three throws for two.