John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images
Through the first 40 minutes of their game against the Minnesota Wild at home, the Washington Capitals failed to find the back of the net for their first goal of the contest. Entering the third period, the time found themselves down 4-0 30 seconds in. When the team finally got their first goal, it proved to be a big one on an individual basis.
At the 10:28 mark of the final frame, with a delayed penalty call against the Wild, a shot from Alex Ovechkin ricocheted off the skate boot of Garnet Hathaway, giving the Caps a 4-1 deficit to attempt to overcome; Evgeny Kuznetsov was credited with the primary assist.
Hath tied his career high in goals with this one pic.twitter.com/nMwLcEsewK
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 4, 2022
The goal marked Hathaway’s 11th goal of the 2021-22 regular season, tying his career-high set in 2018-19, in his final season with the Calgary Flames. Additionally, he is four points shy of 100 in his career.
For Ovechkin, the primary assist on the goal marked his 1,399th career point, moving him past NHL great Jari Kurri for 21st in NHL history in Points.
The #Gr8 moves up the all-time points ranks#ALLCAPS | @LeidosInc pic.twitter.com/44qY6BauVx
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 4, 2022
Hathaway has now recorded 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 Points on the season, while Ovechkin has 42 goals and 37 assists for 79 Points.
In addition, Ovechkin played in his 1,264th game in the National Hockey League, bypassing defenseman Scott Niedermayer and forward Bill Guerin, who played in 1,263 games each. Ovechkin is now ranked 81st in league history in terms of games played, tied with Justin Williams.
By Michael Fleetwood
Hathaway has had a great season this year.
Ovi getting point 1399 and Hathaway’s goal was the ONLY thing good about the game which was otherwise a boring mess.
You are NOT wrong.