Although the Washington Capitals lost 5-4 to the Utah Hockey Club on Super Bowl Sunday it was still a fun matchup and a good game. The team sill got a point out of it in large part thanks to Alex Ovechkin. But not by scoring goals but with a hat trick in the form of assists.
The final assist would force overtime and help the Caps come away with a point before the break. Tom Wilson would deflect the puck in but the Caps would go on to lose in the shootout 5-4.
When the team returns to game action Ovechkin will go head to head with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not many of those matchups are left and to put things in perspective, the Caps are going in a completely opposite direction than the Penguins are.
Those three assists upped Ovechkin's assist total to 17 on the season. Though he did notch a goal Thursday night in a win against the Philadelphia Flyers so the real magic number is 16. That's the number Ovi needs to best Gretzky's record for the most goals in NHL history.
This isn't your typical Ovechkin like goal from the office either. In Philadelphia in what led to a win over the Flyers, That came off a feed from Martin Fehervary, who found Ovechkin charging up the middle for the quick snap shot and slam dunk. Dylan Strome would be credited with the secondary assist.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said after the win in Philly via Adam Kimelman of NHL.com:
"You become a little bit numb to it, but you still, after games, you take a step back and go, this is just incredible how he continues to score at this level, at the age he's at (39). We just enjoy it, and we're glad he's on our side. It's exciting, and it brings a lot of energy to our team, teammates, coaching staff, to watch what he's doing and continuing to find ways to put pucks in the back of the net."Spencer Carbery
Now with Ovechin at 879 career goals and needing 16 to catch the Great One, he's projected to reach the mark sometime in April, that is... if he comes out of the 4 Nations break heating up the way he has all season long. But if anybody can do it, it's Alex Ovechkin.