Capitals: Top 3 heroes against the Islanders

Alex Ovechkin

I feel like in these series Alex Ovechkin is always listed as the top player. Sometimes we can’t help it, he outdoes himself night after night. He was the MVP of the game with another hat trick for the second straight game. He now has eight goals in his last three games heading into the break.

Ovechkin used his speed to get past two defenders to the Caps on the board, taking a long pass from his buddy Nicklas Backstrom and finishing with a breakaway.

Ovechkin’s second goal came during the five-goal comeback in the third period. It was a curl and drag move that was backhanded in as the great eight fell down. His third goal was an empty net goal to seal the 6-4 win.

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1218676067197751297

But the reason why Ovechkin is listed here isn’t just for his hat trick. After the games when the team wins, a player of the game from the previous game hands off a Washington Nationals batting helmet to who they think is player of the game and they can’t reward themselves.

Of course Ovechkin had it after his hat trick against the New Jersey Devils on home ice but his choice was struggling netminder Braden Holtby after another rough outing where he allowed four goals on 22 shots and was taken out of the game in the third period.

Ovechkin said after the game, per Vogel, “Without your saves, we wouldn’t have had a chance.”

That says more about Ovechkin as a person and a team captain than it does as a player. This team is very close knit and the rest of the league should be scared.

That’ll do it for another top 3 players series. Have a good All Star break Caps fans.