Alexander Ovechkin ended a four-game scoring drought last weekend.
The forward of "Washington" first distinguished himself in the confrontation with the "Islanders" (2: 0), and then hit the gates of "Vancouver" (2: 4), coming out on top in the list of the league's top scorers.
Before that, he last scored on January 1 in a game with Detroit (3: 1).
Perhaps not the best statistics of the Russian at the beginning of the year was associated with damage to the upper body, which the forward had previously told reporters about.
At the same time, Ovechkin is called the only Washington player who has not missed a single game of his team this season.
Alexander managed to return to the scoring rhythm in a match with the Islanders.
The puck thrown by the Washington forward in this meeting cannot be called outstanding.
The Russian scored in the last minute after the opponent removed the goalkeeper.
In the confrontation with Vancouver, the striker managed to score a goal in his usual style.
“Washington” got the opportunity to play in the majority, and then the classic scenario worked: Evgeny Kuznetsov made a pass to the blue line to Justin Schultz, who delivered the puck to Ovechkin, and the Russian struck a powerful shot on goal.
The puck helped the Washington captain equal Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl in goals and points for the season.
Interestingly, the last time Alexander was in the lead in the scorer race was seven years ago, on March 20, 2015.
The Capitals forward opened the scoring for the 130th time in his career.
Only two players in history have done it more often: Jaromir Jagr (135) and Brett Hull (131).
The goal was also the 276th goal for the striker in the majority - this is an update of his own record.
In addition, Ovechkin was able to outplay the 153rd goalkeeper in his career - Thatcher Demko, and also came out on the 24th place in history in points (1374), equaling Mike Modano.
The Russian came close to Jagr in the list of the top scorers of the regular season in the history of the league.
Now he has 756 goals on his account.
There are only 10 left to the Czech.
It is symbolic that exactly 16 years ago - on January 16, 2006 - Ovechkin threw the puck into the Phoenix gate (6: 1), which was recognized by ESPN as the best in NHL history.
Where were you when Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) scored this UNREAL goal as a rookie 16 years ago??
🤯
📺: @Sportsnet ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF#NHLonSNpic.twitter.com/MQVsSFbigY
— NHL (@NHL) January 16, 2022
Vancouver head coach Bruce Boudreau, who led Washington from 2007 to 2012, admitted after the match that he admired the Russian's game.
“You know, when he scored, I didn’t even look at Ovechkin.
He looked straight at me, and I told him: "No more (heads)."
Because he has a tendency… If Ovechkin played against me every day, he would probably have 110 goals a year.
He is gaining momentum and surprises me at his age, ”the official NHL website quotes the specialist as saying.
However, Alexander was not allowed to score more in the match, and although Washington opened the scoring, Peter Laviolette's wards failed to win the home match.
Vancouver scored three goals in a row: Elias Pettersson scored a double.
And when the Capitals woke up in the third period, after converting the majority again, there wasn't enough time to save the game.
The capital club suffered the fifth defeat in the last six matches.
As Ovechkin said after the meeting, his team was not as active in attack in the game with Vancouver.
“We had good chances to score.
But we didn't.
In the second break, they talked about the need to throw more at their goal.
But we must admit that we were not actively going to their spot, especially when we threw from the blue line.
We just shot from the perimeter and the goalie saw every shot.
If you don't create traffic in front of other people's gates, it's hard to win.
Therefore, we will watch the video, make changes to the game and move on, ”said the Russian.
Much more talkative was the head coach of the Canucks.
On the eve of the match, talking about how to stop Ovechkin, Boudreau laughed it off, offering to take the forward somewhere far away, for example, to Virginia, and leave him there.
And then, speaking seriously, the specialist admitted that such an attacker is very difficult to deal with, given how he can adapt to the situation and the ever-changing game in general.
“The more you hit him, the more he looks like the Hulk.
The more he gets angry, the stronger he becomes.
And you kind of want him to fall asleep,” Boudreau said.
At the same time, the Vancouver mentor expressed confidence that the Russian could beat Wayne Gretzky's record.
“He will play until he achieves his goal.
I tell you for sure, ”added the mentor.
Ovechkin will be able to get closer to the desired goal in the next two weeks.