Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin scored the first goal of the current National Hockey League (NHL) season in a regular season home match against the Toronto Maple Leafs (1:4).
Source: Reuters
The 38-year-old Russian converted the power play 11 seconds before the end of the second period, scoring his team’s only goal. At that time, Washington was already losing the score 0:4.
Before this, two more scoring episodes occurred with Ovechkin’s participation. At the beginning of the match, during an attack by Washington, the Russian lost his balance and hit his helmet on the crossbar, interfering with Toronto goalkeeper Joseph Wall. The puck, scored at this point by Nicklas Backstrom, was not counted.
At the beginning of the second period, Ovechkin received the right to a shootout, but failed to realize it.
Ovechkin opened the scoring for the new season in game five. Prior to this, the Washington captain had only two assists. This goal was Ovechkin’s 823rd goal in the NHL regular championships. He is now 71 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Also thanks to this puck, Ovechkin increased his total number of power-play goals to 300, becoming the first player in NHL history to reach this mark. It is noteworthy that this goal was the 3000th in history for Washington, scored with a numerical advantage. Thus, Ovechkin has accounted for every tenth power play goal in Washington’s 61-year history.
Toronto goaltender Joseph Wall became the 170th goalie Alexander Ovechkin scored against in the NHL. In the coming seasons, Ovechkin may also take first place in this indicator. In league history, only two players have scored more goals against a goalie: Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177).
In total, Ovechkin made as many as 14 shots against Wall during this game. During his career, the Russian only shot at the opponent’s goal more often twice. In a match with the Carolina Hurricanes (5:2) in October 2006 and in a game with the Detroit Red Wings (0:1) in November 2015, Ovechkin made 15 shots each.
Washington continues to remain in last place in the Eastern Conference standings, with only one win in five matches. The capital’s next match will be on Friday, October 26, away against the New Jersey Devils.
2023-10-25 06:22:57
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