WASHINGTON — In the second period of Game 1 between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens, Cole Caufield went to go break out from the corner, and looked up just in time to see Alex Ovechkin barreling toward him.
At that point, there was nothing he could do; Ovechkin had locked in his target and was going to finish his check. That's just what the 6-foot-3, 238-pound winger does.
Ovechkin sent Caufield, who comes in at just 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, flying into the end boards, sending a jolt of energy through his bench and the entire arena.
"I wouldn't recommend it," Caufield told ESPN in the second intermission of being hit by Ovechkin.
Age is just a number at this point for Ovechkin, who continues to defy father time shift after shift. the Capitals' captain is still throwing his weight around like he did 20 years back.
At 39, he finished the regular season with 110 hits in 63 outings and has brought that physicality into the playoffs, picking up a team-leading seven hits in Game 1 against Montreal, where he also struck twice en route to a 3-2 overtime win.
"He's a beast. He's a machine," Tom Wilson said. "When he's out there creating energy for our team, scoring, he does it all. He does everything. That's what a leader does. It's one thing to be good all season long, but the guys that show up and hit and block shots and lead the team, that's why he's a legend."
His performance paved the way for his teammates; Lars Eller himself had five hits, and the Capitals dominated the Canadiens in the hits department over the course of the night.
For Ovechkin, though, it's just in his DNA. He's not only the greatest goal scorer of all-time, but is known for his physicality and has a reputation for making his opponents pay.
Brandon Duhaime, who is happy to finally be on Ovechkin's side, would know. As someone who's been on the other side of an Ovechkin bump, both in practice nad as an opponent, he can attest: it's not a pleasant experience.
"Ovi's built like a train," Duhaime explained. "He's big on his skates, he's a big guy as it is. If he catches someone not looking — even if they're looking — he's going to bury them."
It's not just his size, though. It's the way he hits. In his younger days, he showed what he could do when opponents were caught with their head down, as he levelled Jaromir Jagr on the Olympic stage and flipped P.K. Subban over back in the early 2010s. And, to this day, he's still sending vibrations through the rink as he lays into Caufield and others who stand between him and the puck.
“Guys can hear when he’s coming, and he obviously hits hard," Dylan Strome said. "I wouldn’t want to get hit by him. I think he does a great job of kind of bringing life to the team in whatever way he can.”
Ovechkin is also less than 300 hits away from the NHL's all-time hits record, a feat that would be impressive to go hand-in-hand with the all-time goals record he took from Wayne Gretzky in April.
As the Capitals continue their run for another Stanley Cup, Ovechkin is ready, and he's not going to hold back anytime soon.
"It's a physical sport," Ovechkin said matter-of-factly.