Historical goal at the beginning of the third period and defeat in the end
Alexander Ovechkin managed to accustom fans to regular statistical achievements this season. He scores a goal after a goal and is gradually approaching Wayne Gretzky, who has 894 goals, in the list of the best NHL scorers in history.
However, if it would be almost impossible to catch up with the legendary Canadian this year, the Russian should have overcome the mark of 700 goals. And he was in full swing towards the goal, not infrequently making hat-tricks, but in February he took a break, stopping at 698 goals. Over the course of a full five matches, the attacker left the court without accurate shots, and without points for performance in general.
But on Thursday, Ovechkin finally managed to excel, although “Washington” lost in overtime to “Montreal” - 3: 4. Thus, before reaching the historical level, Alexander had only one step to do.
And he did not put off the matter, but scored already in the Saturday game with the “New Jersey”. The match started for the Capitals not too well. In the middle of the first period, the hosts opened an account, and after the break they doubled their advantage. However, Washington quickly managed to realize the majority and reduce the backlog.
And at the beginning of the final twenty-minute historical event occurred. Ovechkin, having received the puck in the right face-off circle, made a corporate click, and the shell was in the net with a rebound from the rack. An efficient transfer to the eighth number was given by compatriot Yevgeny Kuznetsov. The whole team congratulated Alexander on the jubilee 700th goal. He was literally clamped in his arms. The hockey player himself after the match was rather modest.
Hear @WaltonCaps call # 700vi !!
February 22, 2020, remember where you were # ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com / nfKvitWVZB
“This is a good company, I am happy to be in the 700 club. Kuznetsov gave me a great pass, I threw it, the puck hit the post and then into the net. Everything is finished, we move on, ”Ovechkin quotes the“ Championship ”, referring to the social networks of American observer Iain Hollande.
"He never stops."
Unfortunately, it did not help Washington win. In the end, the metropolitan team created problems for itself by seizing two consecutive deletions. As a result, the latter realized two minutes before the final siren Damon Siverson. By the way, a couple of assists in this match was given by the Russian New Jersey striker Nikita Gusev. And the “Washington” suffered a fourth defeat in a row.
However, this failure of the team will be forgotten, and the historical achievement of Ovechkin will remain in memory forever. In order to score 700 goals in the NHL, Alexander took a total of 1,144 matches. This is the best result in league history after Gretzky, who took only 886 meetings to 700 goals.
In the current season, the striker already has 42 goals, and in the list of the best snipers he is second only to David Pastrnyak (Boston) and Oston Matthews (Toronto), who have 43 goals each.
By the way, Alexander the Great became only the eighth player in the history of the NHL, to whom the bar of 700 accurate throws was submitted. He is currently inferior to Gretzky, Gordy Howe (801), Jaromir Jagr (766), Brett Hall (741), Marcel Dionne (731), Phil Esposito (717) and Mike Gartner (708) in the list of top league scorers. Thus, at the end of the season, Alexander is quite capable of competing even for getting into the top five. Of the other active hockey players, no one has even come close to the mark of 600 goals.
The achievement of the Russian was seen not only by his teammates and fans of the Capitals. Ovechkin was congratulated even by rivals. "New Jersey" on this occasion has published a special post on social networks. Official NHL Twitter did not stand aside. In turn, Washington’s social networks reminded that Alexander is the “sole owner of the Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, Calder Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Ted Lindsay Trophy and Maurice Richard Trophy” .
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins striker Evgeni Malkin called the team partner “Russian Machine”.
“Firstly, congratulations. We all know that he is a terrific player. Ovechkin - Russian car. He never stops. I like his game, and I'm glad that he scored, because I know how hard it is. Let it continue in the same spirit, ”the Championship quotes Malkin’s words, referring to the Pens Inside Scoop Twitter account.