One of the main events in the NHL at the start of the regular season was the amazing performance of the outstanding Russian striker “Washington Capitals” Alexander Ovechkin. A double in the next match – against the Ottawa Senators – brought 36-year-old Ovechkin, who has already scored seven goals, to the leaders of the sniper championship race and to the second place in the bombing race. So briskly he accelerated in the season only in the decade before last, when he was still very young.
The match between the clubs representing the capitals of Canada and the United States was remembered primarily for the daring with which the rivals attacked each other’s gates. In the shootout they arranged, Washington was more successful, having won an away victory with a score of 7: 5. Formally, the main character of the meeting in his ranks was TJ Oshi, the author of the hat-trick. But, of course, in the reviews dedicated to the match in various North American media resources at least no less attention was paid to the other striker, although he hit the goal not three times, but twice.
Alexander Ovechkin’s uniform is generally one of the main themes of October in the NHL. She’s just too good, especially considering Ovechkin’s veteran age, which couldn’t help but raise doubts about his current productivity.
But at least for now, she’s gorgeous. After the match with Ottawa, the Russian has seven goals, and he led the championship sniper race, which he won nine times in his career. At the same time, in previous meetings, Ovechkin showed himself excellently as an assistant. He has five gears. A dozen points – this is the second place in the bombing race. And her clear favorite, Connor McDavid from the Edmonton Oilers, is only one point ahead of Ovechkin.
To properly evaluate the performance of Alexander Ovechkin, you can compare them with the performance of previous seasons. In the past, which started much later than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic, in January, Ovechkin scored three goals in his first six games, and four goals the year before. In fact, the last time it gave an identical overclocking efficiency a long time ago – in 2009. Then, in six meetings, Ovechkin also scored a dozen points, but, by the way, scored less on the puck than now. And 12 years ago he was 24 years old.
At the same time, the general impressions of the game of Alexander Ovechkin are quite correlated with his statistics. That is, one cannot say that he is terribly lucky or that Washington is so strong today that Ovechkin gets points almost automatically. In this sense, the match against Ottawa is just an ideal example.
In the second period, it seemed to have undergone a radical change. Just now, Ottawa was inferior 1: 4, but pulled themselves together, added and very quickly, literally in five minutes, restored the balance. “Washington” was knocked down, and the rivals continued to press. And then the Washington leader took the floor. Ovechkin blocked the throw of his compatriot Nikita Zaitsev, followed by a rush forward and soon sent the puck into the net of the Ottawa goal. “Washington” again stepped forward and after that did not find itself in a situation similar to a critical one.
And, of course, everyone who described the exploits of Alexander Ovechkin did not forget that for some time now it has turned into an entertaining attraction.
NHL top scorers
I G P O
1. Connor McDavid (Edmonton) 5 6 7 13
2. Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) 6 7 5 12
3. Leon Dreiseitl (Edmonton) 5 4 7 11
4-5. Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit) 5 6 3 9
4–5. Kyler Conner (“Winnipeg”) 5 6 3 9
6.Andrey Svechnikov (“Carolina”) 5 5 4 9
7. Ange Copitar (Los Angeles) 6 6 3 9
8-9. Stephen Stamkos (Tampa Bay) 6 4 5 9
8-9. Evgeny Kuznetsov (Washington) 6 4 5 9
10. Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus) 6 3 6 9
Its essence is to monitor the progress of the Russian up in the NHL sniper race, not of a specific season, but of all times.
He recently became the fifth in it, beating Marcel Dionne. After the double in the match with Ottawa, to the fourth position, in which Brett Hull is located, there is very little left: Ovechkin has 737 goals, Hull has 741. But in reality, without any reservations, one can safely call Ovechkin Jaromir Jagr, trailing two of Canada’s greatest hockey legends Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe, and finishing in the top three. Before Jagr – 29 goals, taking into account Ovechkin’s tone, strictly speaking, a mere trifle.
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