That may be true, but Ovechkin, who had not scored in 44 previous playoff overtime games, came through for the Capitals when they were staring down a deflating loss and the possibility of facing all the pressure in Game 2 of the best-of-7 series at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC). Ovechkin led Washington throughout the night, scoring two goals and getting the primary assist on another.
He also turned back the clock with his physical play with seven of the Capitals’ 42 hits.
“He’s a beast,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. “He’s a machine. 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 was a different story a year ago, when the Capitals were swept by the New York Rangers in the first round and Ovechkin was held without a point in a playoff series for the first time in his career. Ovechkin downplayed the motivation that disappointment might be for him heading into this series, but Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said on Saturday that going without a point against the Rangers last season “bothered him” and that Ovechkin was “very driven” to have success in these playoffs.
Ovechkin’s inspired performance Monday seemed to prove Carbery right.
“Made a couple of big plays for us tonight,” Carbery said. “Was physical, set the tone. First period, he was leading the charge and dragging us into the fight.”
The Capitals played a strong first period but had nothing to show for it until Ovechkin’s power-play goal at 18:34 gave them a 1-0 lead. After taking a cross-ice pass from Wilson, Ovechkin whipped a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that went between the legs of Canadiens defenseman David Savard and sailed into the net past goalie Sam Montembeault’s blocker.
The goal was reminiscent of Ovechkin’s record-breaking 895th goal on April 6 against the New York Islanders, which resulted from a similar Wilson pass and Ovechkin wrist shot.
“Obviously, it looked pretty familiar,” Wilson said. “I had so much time with the puck. I looked up and he got into that ice, that same ice that’s pretty dangerous if I can get the puck to him. When I see him get some space, you just want to put it on his tape. He can score from anywhere. Heck of a shot.”
