As he geared up for Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens, Alex Ovechkin had no doubts about his team’s drive to win.
“As soon as the puck drops, everybody going to be in motivation mode and beast mode,” he said Saturday.
The Capitals had stumbled down the stretch, losing three of their last five games to end the regular season. Once the clock started against Montreal, however, Ovechkin brought the beast out to play.
Ovechkin dazzled Monday with a dominant game and a three-point night (2g, 1a). After factoring into both of Washington’s goals in regulation, Ovechkin sealed the deal with the first overtime playoff goal of his two-decade NHL career, delivering the Capitals a 1-0 series lead.
“He’s our leader through and through: goals, hits, making good plays, smart plays with the puck, positive on the bench,” Dylan Strome said of Ovechkin’s night. “Obviously some big moments at some key times in the game, obviously we needed it.”
While the overtime-winner took the spotlight, Ovechkin had already made quite the impact in the game’s first 60 minutes. He opened the scoring late in the first period, notching a goal that mirrored his record-breaking 895th goal on Long Island.
“Pretty similar, eh?” Tom Wilson said of the comparison. “That’s what we said when we got back to the bench.”
Ovechkin added to his point total in the second period with an assist on Anthony Beauvillier’s 2-0 goal. But beyond his point total, his physicality set the tone for a chippy, high-intensity game as he tied his season high of seven hits. Even at age 39, he was still able to wreck shop, knocking down a string of opponents to the roar of the crowd.
No hit garnered a bigger response than the one he laid on Canadiens star Cole Caufield, sending the 5’8”, 175-pound winger several flying back towards the boards.
“He’s a beast,” Wilson said of Ovechkin. “He’s a machine. When he’s out there creating energy for our team, scoring, he does it all. He does everything. That’s what a leader does. It’s one thing to be good all season long, but the guys that show up and hit and block shots and lead the team, that’s why he’s a legend.”
After a Montreal comeback in the final five minutes of regulation, Ovechkin stepped up one last time to send the Canadiens to the showers. He was characteristically modest when asked about earning his first playoff overtime-winner.
“A goal is a goal,” Ovechhkin said. “And in the playoffs, especially, it doesn’t matter who scores. I think it gives you confidence.”
Several of Ovechkin’s teammates expressed disbelief that their captain — the league’s most prolific goal-scorer and someone with more than 150 playoff games under his belt — had never managed the feat before. Strome, ever the statistics buff, even cited the 45 playoff overtime games Ovechkin had played in without scoring the game-winner.
“That’s kind of crazy when you think about it,” Beauvillier remarked of the milestone postgame.
The Capitals — alongside the hockey world at large — have spent much of the last year celebrating Ovechkin’s regular-season accomplishments as he chased the all-time goals record. His 895th goal earlier this month represented a historic achievement, and the gravity that moment held for him was clear to see when he reached the summit.
If you asked Ovechkin his biggest goal, however, his answer has always been the same: win another Stanley Cup. And with his chase now complete, he’s taken the first step towards yet another mountaintop.
“Guy’s the best player in the world. What else can you say?” said Logan Thompson postgame. “He comes in clutch today, all game. He had a part in all those goals. It’s awesome to see. It’s a privilege to be his teammate.”
