Washington, DC – Four days after breaking the record for all time of NHL, Alex Ovechkin showed a more grumpy side of her game, throwing her body against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday evening.
Tensions were already raised between divisional rivals. The caps and rods clashed in a competition fueled by whistle eight days earlier which included a combined maneuver of 142 penalties and a controversial maneuver of withdrawal from Jalen Chatfield on Connor McMichael.
Ovechkin has shown no hesitation in the opponents in the revenge match. Although Brandon Duhaime and Chatfield have already dropped the gloves in the first period, Ovechkin nailed a dive on Chatfield at the start of the second.
Dylan Strome awarded the Ovechkin’s blow for shooting the team, finally helping the ceilings to draw a penalty in the middle of the period which allowed Strome to link the match.
“(Ovechkin) started everything, the blow behind the net,” said Strome after the match. “I started the three or four quarters of work in a row, drew a power game just after that, and the power game has intensified and found ways to do so.”
Fans of Capital One Arena applauded while Ovechkin launched a series of controls against the Hurricanes – the opponents collapsed on the ground while Ovechkin seemed to feel the successes.
Ovechkin finished the match with four strokes, one against each of Chatfield, Sean Walker, Jordan Martinook and Eric Robinson – although this count is conservative compared to his physical presence on ice.
Head coach Spencer Carbery congratulated not only the versatility of Ovechkin, but also his ability to read the situation before him and decide how he could better help his teammates. After a difficult start for its line with Strome and Taylor Raddysh, Ovechkin pivoted a more rough style of play.
“He feels momentum and what’s going on in the game and knows:” Okay, so you will not always be able to score a goal “,” said Carbery. “But he knows that he can affect the game with a pre-ciel as F1, he buries a guy. He crosses people. He tries to drag everyone in the fight and also at the same time, he understands the crowd and plays at home.
“And if he can get energy in the building, it will help our whole team, not just his line. So I thought it was a big point because I think it was an important momentum when it was starting to establish a physics or a physical part of our game.”
Although Ovechkin’s marking statistics have rightly become the objective of his career, his successful count is nothing to sneeze. Ovechkin ranks third in the successes of all time (3,739) since the NHL began to follow the statistics in 2007-08.
Even at 39, Ovechkin continued to use this physique. He has a total of 106 strokes this season and is largely held alone in his ability to check and score: 42 Ovechkin’s goals this season are first among the players with 100 strokes, with Sam Reinhart five goals behind him for second place.
Strome highlighted the boost that these moments can bring to the caps as a whole, as well as the way in which they can inspire fear in opponents.
“This energizes our team,” he said. “I think the guys can hear when he arrives and he obviously hits hard. I wouldn’t want to be struck by him. I think he is doing a great job to give the team to life in any way. Some nights, it strikes, some nights, she marks, and tonight was a bit of both.”
While a physical game has always been in Ovechkin’s shooting, his game on Thursday also presented the changing capital priorities after the end of the record prosecution. With less pressure to accumulate goals, Ovechkin is ready to turn the page and prepare for the next playoff series, whether or not he finds himself on the match sheet.
“Right now, this is the period of the year you have to prepare for big games,” said Ovechkin. “I tried to set the tone and I think the boys followed, so it’s good.”
