The Wraparound: Another Look At Ovi’s Record-Tying Goal And A Capitals’ Win

In the midst of what would otherwise be an unremarkable late-season game against the last-place Chicago Blackhawks, the Washington Capitals were all well aware of the main storyline of Friday night’s match – Ovechkin sitting three goals shy of breaking the record.  

A hat trick at home against a Chicago team struggling massively isn’t too much to ask, is it?  

Just before 3:52 into the first period, Ovechkin seriously looked like he was going to make it happen, too. Taking a pass from behind the net from Dylan Strome, Ovi sniped the top corner over Blackhawks’ goalie Spencer Knight, giving the Caps an early 1-0 lead, and bringing himself to within a single tally of The Great One’s record.  

I texted Sammi a short time later and remarked how it would be funny to see Ryan Leonard get his first NHL goal tonight but no one would remember it because Ovechkin scored three to take the record.  

Perhaps fortunately for Leonard, only one of those things happened. And perhaps unfortunately for the home crowd, the record-breaker will have to wait for another game (although they did witness him tie it…so no one left empty-handed).  

At the end of the night, Washington walked away with a 5-3 victory courtesy of those two tallies by the Great Eight, as well as Leonard’s first, and an additional goals by Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary. And those two points are what matters most in the end.  

That’s not to say Chicago made it easy by any means. Later in the first after Ovechkin’s 893rd, Tyler Bertuzzi tied it up for Chicago, and Frank Nazar gave them an early second-period lead after a Capitals’ defensive breakdown. Even after Fehrevary tied it a few minutes later, the Blackhawks managed to immediately take the lead back (I mean that literally. It was ten seconds later). For a while, it looked like Chicago was going to successfully spoil the night.  

But, in the third period, right from his spot, a place where he has scored roughly a quarter of his 894 goals, Alex Ovechkin matched Wayne Gretzky with a shot beating Spencer Knight on the power play.  

Cue the excitement and fanfare. And cue up the ovation from the Caps’ faithful, who came out last night to hopefully see history.  

After a long ovation from the crowd and Slapshot flipped the counter to 894, on we played, hoping to see that next big one. Sadly we it never came to pass, although it wasn’t for a lack of trying. After Ovechkin subtly declined Head Coach Spencer Carbery’s  invitation to return to the ice when Chicago pulled Knight for an extra attacker, Ryan Leonard made his own personal memories by notching his first NHL goal on the empty net; a big night for the prominent Caps’ prospect who had a front-row seat to history being made in addition to making his own mark on the score sheet.  

Postgame, Carbery joked about Ovechkin itching to get back out after Leonard’s goal, stating “When the goalie went back in, he absolutely wanted to get back out on the ice.” Which is why Ovechkin played the entirety of the 1:36 that remained in the game, generating a few quality chances, but ultimately finished the night in a tie with Gretzky.  

Maybe Spencer Knight can take some solace in the fact that he won’t be the goalie that allowed the record breaker to a living NHL legend.  

Overall, the Capitals played a good game against the Blackhawks, although it wasn’t a particularly great game. Teams like Chicago (well out of the playoff picture) are still fine playing spoiler and making life hard down the stretch for the teams who are getting ready for a chance at the Stanley Cup. At times throughout the game, and especially in the second period, the Capitals allowed Chicago to stay in the game and spotted them two separate leads.  

Analytically, the numbers show that the Capitals mostly outplayed Chicago, finishing with a Corsi-for of 58.65 to Chicago’s 41.35. Not bad. But it felt like Chicago, a team ranked near the bottom of the league in both goals for and goals against per game, was given too much room too often to work. This was a game with a ton of emotion and momentum behind the Capitals- and one that started off with an Ovechkin goal, so I expected a more decisive outcome for Washington.  

But I’m just nitpicking now, and a win is a win.  

The Capitals next head up to New York to take on the Islanders, in a game where I think we’re all hoping Ovechkin doesn’t score so that he can return home on Thursday and attempt to get it against Carolina.  

I can’t be the only one secretly hoping for that.  

Nevertheless, the Islanders are a team still clinging to a slim hope of making the playoffs, and they will absolutely look to make Washington’s life miserable. The Capitals will need to continue to play strong going down the stretch, especially since they are likely to face a scrappy team like Montreal in the first round of the playoffs.