For two weeks, the name of the Washington Capitals striker Alexander Ovechkin has not disappeared from the information space.

Hockey fans watched with interest how from match to match he approached the next most important milestone - the sixth place in the list of the best snipers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Have not yet had time to subside enthusiastic comments about the fact that the Russian managed to catch up with the legendary Phil Esposito, as he surpassed him in a meeting with the New York Islanders.

An abandoned puck and an assist helped the capital team win 3: 1 and come out on top in the Eastern Conference.

And the captain himself was recognized as the first star of the match and the third star of the game day.

To the meeting with their main rival in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, the wards of Peter Lavioletta came up with a five-match winning streak, and in four games Ovechkin was marked with an abandoned puck.

He did not betray himself this time either.

Taking part together with Yevgeny Kuznetsov in scoring the goal, which was authored by T.J. Oshi, the Russian realized the majority in the 36th minute of the match with a signature throw to touch from the left throw-in circle.

Niklas Beckström and Justin Schultz acted as assistants, effectively playing the puck in the Islanders area.

This goal was the 718th in Ovechkin's NHL career.

He rose to a lonely sixth spot on the sniper list and is now 13 goals behind Canadian center Marcel Dionne in fifth place.

Despite the impressive achievement, at the post-match press conference, the Russian, according to his custom, remained modest and did not forget to pay tribute to the other key participants in the episode - Schultz and Beckstrom.

“The milestone has been passed, this is already history.

Quite good records and I am happy to be in this category.

But now you just need to move forward.

Today was a very cool match, important points and obviously big numbers ... Whether it's a touch-on throw, a wrist throw, or a sub-pass.

A goal is a goal.

And it's always nice to score them.

Of course, during the pause, I immediately thanked Nikki and Shulzi for a great job, they moved the puck well and brought it to me.

I just had to send her to the goal, ”the official website of the NHL quotes Ovechkin as saying.

At the same time, the captain of "Washington" has the highest number of goals scored per game among the top eight NHL snipers - 0.61 goals per game.

In addition, the Russian now has 1,301 points for his career in the North American League, which allowed him to reach 34th place in history for this indicator.

Even on the eve of Esposito, he admitted that he had long expected that the Russian would catch up with him in the number of goals scored.

Now he congratulated the striker on his new success and urged him not to stop there.

“Hey Alex, this is Phil Esposito!

Congratulations!

You are a fantastic hockey player.

I don’t know how you manage to score that many goals, considering how goalkeepers block with all this modern gear.

Good luck, keep up the good work, just not at the gates of the Tampa Bay Lightning, ”said Esposito to Ovechkin.

And now a message from the great Phil Esposito for Alex Ovechkin on taking over sixth place on the all-time goals list! #ALLCAPS |

# Gr8pic.twitter.com / 8NydChJFE8

- Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 17, 2021

Islanders mentor Barry Trotz, who coached Washington from 2014 to 2018 and led him to the 2017/18 Stanley Cup, had mixed feelings about his achievement.  

“I don’t know if this is appropriate.

But let's just say I wish I wasn’t here now.

I acknowledge his greatness and all his achievements.

No question, I'm rooting for him.

But not when he plays against us, ”Trotz complained.

Of course, the atmosphere in the Capitals camp was different.

Laviolette recalled that the beginning of the season was not set for both the striker and the whole team as a whole.

However, the Russian constantly created dangerous moments and gradually returned to his previous form.

“In my opinion, the better you get into your rhythm, the more you get in return.

Those players who constantly create chances and shoot goals sometimes really need to catch the right rhythm.

So for me, this is precisely the big difference between the game of Ovechkin and the whole team at the start of the season and now.

Over the past few weeks, our results have changed a lot, and we have more chances for a goal, ”explained Laviolette.

In turn, Bekström also noted Ovechkin's new achievement.

He admitted that he was glad to be a team-mate of such a hockey player.

“It's incredibly impressive.

It is interesting and joyful year after year to watch how he throws at goal, throws the pucks, how he plays hockey.

As a teammate, you just enjoy every moment he plays, ”added the Swede.

The best scorer in the NHL is Wayne Gretzky.

And although Ovechkin needs to score 176 more goals to surpass his achievement, two-time Olympic champion Vyacheslav Fetisov is confident that he will succeed.

“Ovechkin is great, we will cheer for him so that he breaks all the records that remain there. Not an easy task, of course. Let's hope he succeeds. How high will he be in the top? It all depends on him. If he wants, he can do anything. Ovechkin can beat the seemingly untouchable Gretzky record. The main thing is desire and aspiration ", - quotes Fetisov" Sport-Express ".