With the best record in the Eastern Conference at the end of the 2024-25 NHL regular season, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs with high expectations.
And early in their first game of the postseason against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday, the Caps flexed their muscles after “The Great Eight” scored less than two minutes into the contest during Washington's power-play attack.
With the Capitals on the attack, the 39-year-old Russian superstar, who scored 44 goals (including 14 goals on the power play) in the regular season, comfortably positioned himself in his “office” and scored on a wrist shot off the assists from Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome to put Washington ahead right away.
The Capitals weren't an especially lethal team on the man advantage during the regular season, where they were just 14th in the league with a 23.5 percent power play success rate. Conversely, the Canadiens' special teams were top 10 in the NHL in terms of containing opposing power plays, as Montreal was ninth in the regular season with an 80.9 percent penalty kill rate.
Fans were hyped after seeing the all-time NHL's leading goal scorer light the lamp for the Capitals.
“He’s unbelievable,” one fan said.
“The 🐐!!! Capitals looking good so far!!!” commented another.
“VINTAGE ALEX IN THE BIG MOMENT,” read a different comment.
“Incredible move, let's go 🔥🔥,” another chimed in.
“Ovi doing Ovi things, That power play laser never gets old. The man’s still a machine,how many goals do you think he finishes the season with?” wondered a social media user.
In any case, Ovechkin and the Capitals took advantage of the situation to set the tone early versus Montreal, which has some playoff history with Washington.
It can be recalled that back in the 2010 edition of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the then-President Trophy-winning Capitals battled the Canadiens in the first round, winning three of the first four games of the series. Despite being down 3-1, the Habs turned things around on the strength of goalie Jaroslav Halak's incredible performance between the pipes, as they won the remaining three games to eliminate Ovechkin and Washington and move on to the next phase.
