Alexander Ovechkin’s Heroic Save: Caps’ Star Player Prevents Potential Tragedy During Game Against Philadelphia

Alexander Ovechkin / Photo: © Rich Graessle / Contributor / Getty Images Sports / Gettyimages.ru

Alexander Ovechkin’s NHL career has become an endless stream of records lately. But the captain of Washington has always been not only a good hockey player, but also a man with a capital M.

The Russian hockey player’s cool act during the game with Philadelphia prevented a tragedy.

Ovechkin’s goalless win

The fans of the capital team expect goals from Ovechkin in every game. Only 40 goals remain before Wayne Gretzky’s “eternal” record is repeated. But now the league’s top sniper is scoring all the tough goals. In addition to age, partners who do not serve the captain very well also affect the performance of a player.

Before the road game with Philadelphia, Washington’s winning streak reached three games. It would seem that a meeting with one of the outsiders should have contributed to the effective actions of Ovechkin, but this time the Capitals had other heroes. In the 4th minute, Nic Dowd put the visitors ahead, and he did so in the minority. Alasdair could not, even in theory, participate in this goal, because he was on the penalty box.

Andrew Mangipane doubled the capital’s lead. Again the visitors’ attack worked well in the minority. It took more than time for the “pilots” to win back. Travis Sanheim, with the participation of Cameron York and Matvey Michkov, reduced the gap to the minimum. But it only took a moment for the Capitals to retake the lead. John Carlson completed a beautiful multi-move for Washington. Jacob Chickran finished the game – 4:1.

Alexander Ovechkin and Matvey Michkov / Photo: © Mitchell Leff / Contributor / Getty Images Sports / Gettyimages.ru

Heroic Rescue

Ovechkin again left the ice without any points. In five games of the current regular season, Alasdair Mòr has only one goal. Washington head coach Spencer Carbery previously tried to move the Russian to the right wing to increase his effectiveness. The Capitals veteran even jokingly expressed his willingness to play goalie. And in the game against Philadelphia he got a good chance to show his goalkeeping skills.

Early in the second period, defenseman John Carlson made a mistake in a positional attack by the Capitals. He lost the puck in an innocent position and, trying to avoid a counterattack, he hit while falling. The puck hit the stick of a Philadelphia player and flew to the Washington staff.

It’s good that Ovechkin was in the way of the project. Alasdair, acting like a true goalkeeper, extended his hand up and caught the puck. If Russia had not done this, it is not known how this event could have ended. Enough to remember the tragedy of 2002, when Espen Knutsen’s throw caused the death of a 13-year-old fan. And while the league exists, many cases of injuries and injuries after a bag has been hit by spectators and workers have accumulated. So Ovechkin stopped something terrible. It might have saved someone’s life.