Few weapons in hockey carry the mythology of Alex Ovechkin's one-timer, a ferocious release that has propelled him to the title of the NHL's career goals leader across a remarkable 21-year run.
That booming shot hasn't merely beaten netminders again and again; it has likewise dealt pain to a host of defenders who dare to fling themselves in front of it. A telling case features Mikhail Sergachev, a blueliner with the Utah Mammoth, who detailed for Igor Rabiner at Sport-Express how absorbing one of those Ovechkin missiles permanently reshaped the gear he now relies on in games.
Through a Google Translate version, the defenseman explained to Rabiner that three years back he fractured his elbow on one of those howitzers and has worn a custom-built piece of protection from then on. As he recalled it, his side was down by a five- or six-goal gap, and back then, still a youngster, he got sent onto the right flank while positioned behind Sasha. The disc caught him flush, the elbow ballooned, and later imaging revealed a fracture.
The incident he points to unfolded in the late stages of a meeting dated November 11, 2022, which pitted the captain's Capitals against the Lightning, where Sergachev was then employed. As the visitors built a 5-1 cushion, Washington drew a power play in the closing frame, and the captain unloaded freely, harming Sergachev along with his Tampa linemate Erik Cernak inside one shift.
He opened with a rocket that smacked Cernak's ankle and skittered out of bounds, knocking the towering Slovak out for the night. On the next draw, the captain teed off again, this time chewing into the elbow of his fellow Russian.
A blocked Ovechkin shot leaves Sergachev's elbow hurting
Sergachev withdrew to his bench and was unavailable for the final four-minute stretch of regulation. The captain then rubbed it in, setting up Sonny Milano for a goal a scant 1:45 afterward.
Tampa's bench boss, Jon Cooper, conceded afterward that everybody is aware those shots are headed their way, and that planting yourself in their path demands real courage. Rack up a dozen minutes of penalties, he noted, and you're sure to take one off the body. What truly bothered him, Cooper said, was the senselessness of the infractions his group committed, which forced teammates to go out and absorb the punishment, and he laid the blame squarely on his own side.
To his credit, Sergachev never sat out a contest despite the cracked joint and in fact propelled his club past Washington 6-3 in a payback meeting only two nights afterward. In that win the Russian blueliner racked up a four-point night (2g, 2a) while skating 24:20.
Pressed by Rabiner on whether anyone else in the league wields a shot rivaling Ovechkin's, Sergachev named a pair of players yet still placed the captain in a category by himself. He acknowledged that a number of guys shoot with serious power, pointing to Steven Stamkos and Patrik Laine, but contended that Ovechkin holds something one-of-a-kind in where he aims. That, Sergachev said, is where the captain is at his most inventive: he reads the goalie's motion and, at the final instant, fires to an awkward spot, off-center, beneath the arm, tight to the body, which is why netminders struggle so much to track him.
For all the agony he inflicted on that elbow, the captain stays close with his countryman. After their clubs squared off in Utah during this campaign, the pair traded autographed sweaters, and the captain now turns up regularly at the yearly charity showcase the two players bill as their "Match of the Year," which Artemi Panarin and Sergachev stage back home in Russia each offseason.