Alex Ovechkin on Capitals Being Undefeated in Regulation: “Every Point We Can Take, We Take It”

On Sunday, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin spoke to the media following today’s practice before this week’s Florida trip, facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington locally, NHL Network nationally) and the Florida Panthers on Thursday (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington).

Ovechkin discussed the upcoming trip and his thoughts on how the Capitals have done with one month of games in the books.

Ovechkin is looking forward to the road trip. “We have some fun…going to be two big games for us, playing against two good teams,” he said. The Capitals have already faced the Lightning once this season, which was a 2-1 overtime loss at Capital One Arena on October 16. The last time the Capitals clashed with the Panthers was November 27, 2019, a 4-3 victory at Capital One Arena.

He mentioned how nice it was to have a regular length training camp instead of the condensed camp from last season. Ovechkin has worked hard with his trainer to prepare for “the long season” with the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and playoffs in the spring.

“All the guys came in and in good shape,” Ovechkin said on how the normal training camp helped the team overall and fueled their success in the NHL’s opening month of October for the 2021-22 campaign. Washington went 5-0-3 with 13 points—good enough for second in the Metropolitan Division and fourth overall.

Ovechkin leads the Capitals and is second in the league with 15 points. He leads the NHL with nine goals thus far. He also is riding an eight-game point streak. To put the cherry on the cake, the 36-year-old is within three goals of passing Brett Hull for fourth all-time in NHL history. Ovechkin reiterated how grateful he is for “the support around me,” adding, “It’s all about teamwork and team effort.”

“Every point we can take, we take it,” he said on the Capitals being undefeated in regulation so far. “Every point is going to count in the end.”