It was a 2-2 score at the Prudential Center in the second period between the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils. Alex Ovechkin skated on an odd man rush down ice. Lars Eller fed him the puck and on a shot up the middle there it was.
From the high slot, a shot by Ovechkin finally went in the net. He was firing there all afternoon and finished with six shots but the most important one went in for an eventual 3-2 Caps win.
The goal ended an Ovechkin scoreless drought that spanned three games. Yet to Caps fans, a three game goal less drought by the great eight feels like an eternity. If you don’t believe me, just look at Caps twitter on any given game night.
Ovechkin’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at 13:37 in the second period. It helped give the Caps their third straight win and complete a weekend sweep over the Devils. The Caps record improves to 12-5-4 with 28 points with two big games against the Boston Bruins coming up on the horizon.
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Ovechkin had six shots on goal and finished with a game high 10 shot attempts. His goal was the 713th of his career which puts him four behind Phil Esposito for the sixth most goals in NHL history.
Peter Laviolette had good words to say about Ovechkin’s game in his postgame session with the media. Via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):
"“I thought he was on his game right away. He was hard-charging. He was skating. He was looking to find lanes. He was looking to bring pucks to the net, and when that happens, good things will happen. So I thought he was strong from start to finish.”"
For Ovechkin, it was the 246th career go ahead goal in his NHL career in the regular season. He trails only Brett Hull (264) and Jaromir Jagr (262) for the most game winning regular-season goals in NHL history. So yeah, he came through in the clutch once again.
BANG pic.twitter.com/kwbVXNq1tG
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 28, 2021
Can this goal help Ovechkin turn his season around and put up goals at a torrid pace? We shall see in these upcoming games which are big ones against David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins. The first game will take place on Wednesday night with the finale taking place on Friday.
Hopefully those games will see a goal scoring battle between two of the best in the league plus Tom Wilson.