The Capitals captain has an impressive track record when it comes to his play following pauses in the season.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Breaks have been kind to Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin over the years, and this February was no different.
Ovechkin made the most of the Olympic break, spending some time with family and friends in Dubai before returning to the States. Now back and refreshed, he feels he and the team are in the right spot and mindset to make a strong finish push for a playoff spot.
"The break was great," Ovechkin said, adding, "We in that position that we have to make a push and we have to play our game, we have to play smart and collect the points if we wanna be in playoffs."
Through 59 games this season, Ovechkin, in his 21st year, has 22 goals and 26 assists for 48 points. Going into the second half of the campaign, D.C. will need more from its top-line winger, and his track record following breaks has shown that he can bring just that, and then some.
Now, with Washington four points out of both Wild Card position and third in the Metropolitan Division, the Capitals are banking on him stepping up again.
"I'm hopeful for him and our whole team. We're going to need to hit the ground running here right out of the gate... we know where we sit and what we're up against," coach Spencer Carbery said. "We're just going to have to stay very short-term with it, but there's not a lot of margin for error. Everybody's going to have to be playing and our team as a collective is going to have to be playing at a high level right out of this break."