After playing over 24 minutes in the Washington Capitals’ Game 1 loss to the New York Islanders on Wednesday evening with no points and team “L” to show for it, Alex Ovechkin wasted no time on Friday night, putting the Caps on the board in the second game of their first round 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff series with less than a minute into game action.
With the Capitals dealing with the absence of star Center Nicklas Backstrom due to concussion protocol, the team was looking to its other star players to step in his absence (among them returning forward Lars Eller). The team’s captain got the ball rolling just 56 seconds into the first period of Game 2, scoring a sweet backhander in tight, short-side.
The goal (unassisted) was Ovechkin’s first of the 2020 postseason and his 66th career goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, moving him into a tie with NHL greats Denis Savard and Joe Nieuwendyk for the 20th-most in league history.
With his 66th career playoff goal, Ovechkin has tied Denis Savard and Joe Nieuwendyk for the 20th most playoff goals in NHL history.
โ CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) August 15, 2020
With the goal, he moves past Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby among active players in Playoff Goals Scored since the 2008 postseason.
Alex Ovechkin gives the Caps a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the playoffs, his franchise-leading 66th playoff goal. Since his playoff debut in 2008, Ovechkin now ranks first in the NHL in playoff goals, passing Sidney Crosby (65).
โ CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) August 15, 2020
As usual, the goal was pure Ovechkin, complete with excellent stickwork and subsequent exuberance.
๐ ๐ ๐ฃ ๐ ๐ฎ pic.twitter.com/wgmRR71o2v
โ Washington Capitals (@Capitals) August 15, 2020
You think Ovi is fired up?
๐ฃ SOUND ON pic.twitter.com/OzR80rJ2Mp
โ Washington Capitals (@Capitals) August 15, 2020
By Michael Fleetwood
