Alex Ovechkin’s mini-drought is over. The countdown to a new milestone can start again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin’s mini-drought is over. The countdown to a new milestone can start again.
Ovechkin scored his first goal of the season on Friday night, bringing him within two of 900 for his career and helping the Washington Capitals to a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Ovechkin went goalless through the first four games of the season — not a crisis but a longer dry spell than ever last season, when he scored 44 goals and broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record with No. 895.
That number is to 898 now – tracked on a counter above a corner of the ice in Washington.
“The chance was high,” said the 40-year-old Ovechkin, who had 11 shots on goal in the first four games and three more on Friday. “Sometimes you just have to be patient.”
With the Caps leading 2-1 in the third period, Dylan Strome won a face-off directly from Ovechkin, who knocked the puck in off the left post.
“Obviously we try that play a lot, and when it works it looks great,” said Strome, who scored two goals himself. “It doesn’t always work. It’s just one of those things where it was just in the wheelhouse.”
The Capitals dropped their opening game, but have since won four straight and allowed just three 5-on-5 goals all season. On Friday, they defeated Minnesota 45-14 in a dominant performance.
After two periods it was 24-7 in shots, but Washington only led 2-1 before Ovechkin gave the Capitals their first multi-goal lead of the night.
“Everything we did in the third period was right in line with how we want to play,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “The structure, the boys made good decisions and kept lines rolling. It was probably our most impressive period given the situation.”
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