Carl Hagelin has struggled this season for the Washington Capitals but in Monday night’s 4-3 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks it was a slam dunk with a wide open net. He usually misses those or breakaways and this time he finally got it. And he’s got a little fella to thank.
That’s right, Sergei Ovechkin, Alex Ovechkin‘s first son who turned three in August was the one who predicted that Hagelin would score. It came after Ovechkin gave him a Hagelin bobblehead.
Alan May also called Hagelin’s goal on NBC Sports Washington’s Capitals Pregame Live. But seeing Ovechkin’s son already becoming a hockey expert is a good thing. I’m not going to overreact and say he’s going to go on to play in the NHL because I believe everyone should follow their passions. If his passion is hockey, cool! Hope he sticks with it and someday breaks his dad’s record.
“You have to listen to the little guy,” Hagelin said.
"“Sergei Ovechkin actually called it yesterday. He got a bobblehead from me and he told Ovi that I was going to score and then Ovi told me this morning. You have to listen to the little guy.”"
“Sergei Ovechkin actually called it yesterday.”—Carl Hagelin on scoring his first goal of the season. More importantly, Ovi’s son is already showing leadership qualities. #Caps pic.twitter.com/1VUuM4H0dv
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) December 7, 2021
To go along with the goal, Hagelin entered the nights game with just four assists. It’s good to see everyone contributing from the rookies to the healthy veterans that are in. Hagelin finally has the monkey off his back.
Some fans have called to trade Hagelin and his $2.75 million cap hit. With the trade deadline coming up some big decisions could be made. If Hagelin rebounds like Ilya Samsonov has, it’ll make those decisions all the more tougher.
carlgoodtoseeyou.gif pic.twitter.com/mqgjSWUylx
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 7, 2021
His advanced stats aren’t too shabby either so even though he hadn’t been on the scoresheet till Monday night at least he was trying to create chances. Possession metrics from Natural Stat Trick say that at five on five Hagelin has a Corsi For percentage of 53.29 percent. His expected goals for is low, not too surprising, at 46.72 percent but his Scoring Chances For are at 50.55 percent, sort of even Steven.
Hagelin finally broke through and later on the Caps would finally break through and win their first overtime game.