Alex Ovechkin saw his four-game goal streak come to an end on Sunday afternoon, but the 39-year-old winger still managed three points against the Utah Hockey Club.
Ovechkin chipped in three assists, including the primary helpers on Washington’s two third-period markers that forced the game to overtime and extended the team’s home point streak to 15 games. His first assist was also a milestone point, pushing him past Phil Esposito for 11th on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.
“[Oveckin] makes two big plays to set up both goals on scenarios where I think it’s an underrated thing that a lot of people don’t talk about,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “Because everybody is so focused on his shot when he gets the puck, you’re always thinking shot, shot, shot. But he’s got that look-off pass, the shot-pass, I call it. And you see it on display, both those goals. Those are big plays that he made for us.”
The first of two clutch third-period plays came 4:49 into the final regulation frame. After Connor McMichael found his captain streaking through the offensive zone, Ovechkin made a move around a defender before firing his signature shot-pass to Dylan Strome’s tape in the crease.
Ovechkin made a similar play on Tom Wilson’s goal to tie the game 4-4 with just 1:31 left in the third. John Carlson fed Ovechkin in his left faceoff circle office, and instead of firing a one-time blast, Ovechkin slipped another shot-pass to the net-front, which Wilson guided home.
With the three-point game, Ovechkin extended his point streak to five games, and in those five games, he has recorded nine total points (4g, 5a). He has 43 points (26g, 17a) in 39 games this season, a 90-point pace over a full 82-game schedule.
Despite being primarily known as a volume goal scorer, the three-assist performance was the 17th of his storied career. Per the Capitals, Ovechkin’s 444 career multi-point games are the 12th most in NHL history and rank second only to Sidney Crosby (484) among active players.
