Alex Ovechkin made hockey history on Sunday, scoring his 895th career goal to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. Sunday’s celebrations marked the culmination of a decades-long chase that reached a fever pitch this season, becoming one of the biggest stories in sports.
But as Ovechkin drew closer and closer to history, the Capitals’ play stuttered elsewhere, especially when compared to their dominant record earlier in the year. Now that Ovechkin has reached the summit, the team will try to change gears with five games remaining before the playoffs.
“That’s going to be our biggest challenge,” head coach Spencer Carbery said Wednesday, “coming off of such a unique, thrilling experience celebrating that achievement, and now having to completely reset mentally and focus on the task at hand of playing well as a team and making sure that we’re putting ourselves in the best position possible to play well in the playoffs.”
The Capitals had insisted in recent weeks that their focus remained on winning games, staying the course they set earlier in the season rather than trying to force the puck onto Ovechkin’s stick. In the aftermath, however, Carbery was willing to acknowledge that the record chase had had an impact on the team’s focus.
“I give our guys a little bit of a pass because of the circumstances surrounding the last 10 games,” he said. “There was a lot going on. And guys, whether they want to admit it or not, and whether I want to admit it and acknowledge it or not, as much as I want to block it out — as much as I want to say, ‘No, we’re strictly focused on the Winnipeg Jets, the Minnesota Wild,’ whatever the opponent was — it’s impossible to block the record and what was going on inside of the games out.
“So, now that that’s gone, now that he’s achieved that, it’s important that we pay attention to some things defensively that we need to get back inside of our game because I feel like we lost a little bit of that because we wanted to score. We wanted to help ‘O’ score. We were a little bit loose. And I always say this in this league: If you lose just 5, 10% of any type of detail, your defensive detail, that’s enough to now you’re giving up five, six, seven more scoring chances. That’s a goal and a half a game, whatever it might be.”
Ovechkin’s final series of goals to reach the record also came after the team had already clinched a playoff spot on March 20. With a comfortable lead in the Eastern Conference, the outcome of the remaining regular-season games would have little impact on their playoff position, but the Capitals’ recent record still raises concerns.
Since clinching a playoff spot, the Caps have gone 3-4-1 and rank 27th in the league over that span. Two of those wins have come against the bottom-feeding Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, and games against the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Buffalo Sabres handed the Capitals just their second three-game losing streak this season.
“I don’t think it’s good enough as a team,” Tom Wilson said of the team’s recent play. “I thought in Minnesota, Winnipeg, we competed, we played really good hockey, playoff-type games. And then I think, as a group, we needed a little bit more over the last couple of weeks just as a group and for our team game. Some pretty exciting games nonetheless in there, but the Ovi thing was monumental. It was something that none of us could have ever imagined as kids, as adults. It’s been a crazy, crazy ride. So that being said, we’ve got to focus in here and make sure that our underlying game is good moving forward.”
As Caps chased down opportunities for Ovechkin to score, their defense has taken a hit, especially since the start of their California road trip on March 11. Washington allowed an average of just 2.56 goals per game before that road trip, good for the the third-fewest in the league. In their 13 games since, however, their 3.38 goals against per game rank 24th in the NHL; they’ve allowed three or more goals in eight straight contests.
“I think we want to play really good defense, try to find that that mid-season form that we were in a little while ago and just be sharp for the playoffs,” Dylan Strome said. “So I think it’s definitely within us and we’ve been playing decent hockey, kind of like .500 hockey the last little while, so it’s time to ratchet it up and get ready for the playoffs.”
Scoring six goals in his last five games, Ovechkin blew through the final leg of his record chase. That final blitz of goals could prove a gift for the Capitals, giving them a five-game cushion before the start of playoffs to adjust to their post-record style of play. This team will forever be a part of history for what Ovechkin did Sunday. But with that job now done, the Caps can’t lose sight of the work ahead of them.
“I think it was good timing,” Wilson said of the record-breaking game. “Obviously, historic week, something that all of us will remember forever. And (you) have a couple of days to truly take the time to celebrate Ovi as a group and just take it all in.
“From there, we’re going to have a good little stretch here to dial it in, refocus and get ready for the playoffs. I think all this energy is good and it has kind of a playoff atmosphere when you’re walking around these days, because of what O has done. It’s a pretty cool time and we’ll refocus and make sure that we’re ready to go for the most important time of the year, the playoffs, and making sure we’re hitting our stride.”
Ovechkin, fresh off one of the biggest accomplishments of his career, is ready for the challenge.
“I think we all understand the regular season is one thing and all that’s happened during the year is one thing, but in the playoffs it’s a total different season,” he said. “It’s a total different energy level, pace. So, yeah, I think right now we have five games left and we just have to prepare for that time of year and we have to understand how we have to play.”
