ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) 鈥 Alex Ovechkin is four months away from turning 40 and still was among the Washington Capitals’ most consistent hitters in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
Color his teammates unsurprised.
鈥淗e鈥檚 one of a kind,” Tom Wilson said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a machine. He鈥檚 built different.鈥
Ovechkin led the for the first time since captaining them to the Stanley Cup in 2018, scoring four goals and finishing with 19 hits to set up a showdown with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The best-of-seven series starts Tuesday, exactly a month after , and he’s expected to keep this up moving forward because he has been a physical force his entire career with a style that fits perfectly in playoff hockey.
鈥淗e鈥檚 done it ever since I鈥檝e been here, so I don鈥檛 see why he won鈥檛 keep doing it,鈥 said Wilson, who has played with Ovechkin since 2013. “He鈥檚 definitely our energy. He鈥檚 kind of our everything on any given night. He goes out there and leads the way, and that鈥檚 what a captain does. He can be a guy that goes out and gets the momentum going for us early in a game or whenever we need it.鈥
Ovechkin’s first act of his 16th trip to the postseason was a hit on Montreal’s Mike Matheson 20 seconds into that series opener, with his first overtime playoff goal. He laid out Jake Evans with a (penalized) open-ice check late in the second period of a victory, then scored again in .
鈥淗e was outstanding the whole series,鈥 said Spencer Carbery, who’s as coach of the year for getting Washington to the top of the Eastern Conference above preseason expectations.
鈥淗e scored some big goals, I felt like, through this series. And I鈥檓 proud of him because it鈥檚 a long time to sit on last year and last year鈥檚 playoffs and have to run that through your mind.鈥
Last year’s playoffs did not go well for Ovechkin and the Capitals. by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers, and Ovechkin did not register a point in a series for the first time in his two decades in the NHL.
Ovechkin looked like a motivated competitor this time, even though he brushed off the concept of redeeming himself for not scoring in the Rangers series.
鈥淚 mean, you just take it game by game,鈥 Ovechkin said. 鈥淲hat happened in the past and what happened in the regular season is over.鈥
What happened in the regular season was Ovechkin in sports and beyond it by of 894 that was long thought to be unapproachable and by getting a flurry of six in five games.
He also did it with enough time left in the regular season for Ovechkin and the Capitals and set their sights on a second championship.
鈥淔or him to break the record and then be able to reset and refocus, and now (say), 鈥極K, this is what means more to me than the record,鈥 which is amazing in itself, to get himself to the spot where he played this playoffs comparatively to last year, it鈥檚 night and day,鈥 Carbery said. “He鈥檚 a year older. He鈥檚 39 years old. And that鈥檚 a credit to him. He just continues to do things that you just can鈥檛 wrap your head around in this sport, in this league 鈥 and then at the most difficult time of the year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs.鈥
Linemate Dylan Strome, Washington’s leading scorer in the first round with nine points, thinks Ovechkin is doing the same things he has been all season, with a little more physicality mixed in.
鈥淪till getting his shots off, still has great chances to score, still finding ways to get open, and I thought he鈥檚 done a really good job,鈥 said Strome, who this season assisted on 23 of Ovechkin’s 44 goals in his career. “He kind of leads the way for our team in setting the tone and getting the first goal usually, so he kind of brings our team into it and we just follow behind.鈥
Wilson, Strome and John Carlson have lived that for a long time. Anthony Beauvillier has quickly since in March found out what it’s like to play alongside Ovechkin and watch up close as he drags the Capitals into the fight.
鈥淗e wants to show the way, and everyone jumps on the boat with him,” Beauvillier. “To see him do that and score big goals and have some big hits, how can you not get fired up and follow him?鈥
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