The Washington Capitals got a huge 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in another contest loaded with offense. A couple of milestones occurred.
One of the biggest storylines surrounding the Washington Capitals was Alex Ovechkin’s quest to 50 goals. We’ve noted that he’s shown no aging whatsoever as he leads the NHL in goals despite entering the season with a short summer and a figurative and literal Stanley Cup hangover. On Saturday night in Tampa, Ovechkin scored twice in the third period for his 50th and 51st goals of the season.
“O (Ovechkin) seems to have a knack for getting up for big moments to score goals. He loves scoring a goal no matter what in the really big moments whether the momentum is on our side or we need a goal, or we need more to put the nail in the coffin so to speak. He gets up for those ones,” said T.J. Oshie.
Ovechkin joins Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky with eight 50-goal seasons and needs one more to tie both of them with the most in NHL history. It was his first 50-goal season since 2015-16. He was just one goal shy last season.
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“It’s almost unfair that you kind of just expect him to score 50 every year but the little things that we notice is things like the backcheck, him on the forecheck, getting hits, wearing down the other team’s defense, blocking shots,” Oshie added. “Those are things I think he’s done a good job of these last couple years and it’s turning him into a complete 200-foot player and we’re able to have him out there in those big moments knowing he’s going to take care of us.”
Oshie, just like Ovechkin, lit the lamp twice. The second line right winger notched his 24th and 25th goals of the season. Oshie is second behind Ovechkin in the team lead in goals.
Nicklas Backstrom also scored twice, his 20th and 21st of the season and it helped put him in an elite fraternity within the Capitals roster: the 20-goal club. Backstrom has 21 goals and 52 assists this season which is the fourth consecutive season Backstrom has recorded at least 20 goals and 50 assists. As for that 20-goal club, Backstrom joins Ovechkin, Oshie, Jakub Vrana, Brett Connolly, Tom Wilson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov as the seventh player on the team with 20 goals. That’s the fifth time in franchise history the Capitals skated seven players with 20 or more goals.
Backstrom, Ovechkin and Oshie have been key components this season and they’ll look to lock up the Metropolitan Division title and gear up for another run at the Stanley Cup.