In his first game back since being out due to COVID-19 protocols, Alex Ovechkin made his presence felt when he scored the game winning goal 28 seconds into overtime as the Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins 4-3.
The Caps are undefeated through nine games with a 6-0-3 record and they seem to not stop winning early into the Peter Laviolette era. They are coming off a two game sweep of the New York Islanders that saw them score five unanswered goals in the second period.
Late in the first period on Saturday night the Caps struck first with a wrist shot up the middle by Nicklas Backstrom for his fifth goal of the season. The goal came at 18:06. 1-0 would be the score after 20 with the Caps getting outshot 19-7.
At 5:22 in the second period, the Caps doubled their lead with Trevor van Riemsdyk’s first goal as a Capital. It came on a wrist shot from downtown and was assisted by Brenden Dillon and Backstrom.
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After David Krejci was called for hooking Nic Dowd, the Caps went on the power play. At 10:03 while on the attack, a wrist shot from Tom Wilson was deflected in by Richard Panik for his first goal of the season. We all thought it was Wilson that had the goal but Panik would later get credit for it. Ovechkin had the secondary assist.
The Caps led 3-0 and it looked like they would be on their way to a dominant win. But that was when the Bruins would stage a comeback. Nick Ritchie got them on the board with a power play goal before the period ended thanks to Garnet Hathaway getting called for interference. 3-1 would be the score after two periods with the Bruins leading in shots 15-10.
The Bruins pulled to within one at 6:03 on a goal from Brad Marchand. Charlie McAvoy tied it with 58 seconds left. 3-3 would be the score after 60. The Caps were outshot 9-5 in the third.
In the overtime Ovechkin wasted no time with a shot up the middle unleashing the song “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” from the speakers. It was Ovechkin’s second of the season and his 708th of his career which ties him with Mike Gartner.
Despite getting outshot 43-23 and blowing a 3-0 lead, the Caps still found a way to win and getting two points any way they can in this crazy season matters. The rematch between these teams will take place on Monday night.