On Sunday it became known that “Washington” advanced to the playoffs of the Stanley Cup. What are the Caps fans to do if now they can not worry about the team at the end of the season? Follow the sniper race of the capital’s captain Alexander Ovechkin. Moreover, in this race, Ovi does not even think of stopping, and with each match he approaches Wayne Gretzky’s record.

If fans only have the opportunity to watch the Russian chase the great Canadian, then the Caps players can influence the course of history. As part of the regular season, Washington has only six games left to play, and now that the minimum task has been completed, the Capitals will try to play more for their captain.

So in the match against Colorado, the Russian scored a labor puck and repeated the achievement of the NHL legend.

Ovechkin is one of the most stable players

Ovi’s powerful shot will be a key ingredient in Gretzky’s record run. Many NHL veterans are beginning to change their style of play as some become slower and others begin to avoid power play. Such changes cannot but affect the performance. Ovechkin is unique in that he does not need to change anything in his game.

It seems that the Russian is able to forever score goals from his office. The 36-year-old Ovechkin’s throw still terrifies league goaltenders, and many attackers envy him.

Ex-Washington forward and now Colorado player Andre Burakowski admitted that he followed this component of Ovechkin in order to reach the same level.

“It’s hard to learn a lot from him because it seems like every time he shoots, he just beats up the goalkeeper. I have a good wrist shot, but I think his shot is on a whole different level,” Burakowski said.

Another factor in Ovi’s possible success in the sniper race is stability. For Alexander, Teemu Selanne and Gordie Howe were reference points, who at the same age showed effective play. Selanna managed to score 48 goals in the 2006/07 season, which is a record for players over 36 years old, and Howe, after 40, scored 44 goals in one season. In the match against Colorado, Ovechkin repeated the achievement of the Finnish hockey legend, which lasted 15 years. Now for the Russians, the benchmark for stability in the next regular season will be himself, only last year.

Ovechkin’s record puck

“Washington” hit the beginning of the meeting – already in the fifth minute, Garnet Hathaway brought the “capital” ahead. But the Colorado hockey players, with a series of nine victories, did not think to give up, and a few minutes later Valery Nichushkin equalized the score.

In the second 20 minutes, contrary to the expectations of the fans, the players ceased to please the dangerous moments, and during this period the audience saw only one goal. Ovechkin scored the goal and put the Caps ahead. The captain of the “capital” did it in a way that was not usual for him – he caught a rebound from the goalkeeper and finished off the puck into an empty net.

Thanks to this goal, he repeated the record of Selanne and became the second player to score 48 goals at 36 years old. Washington has six games in reserve, which means that Ovechkin will be able to record another season with 50+ goals in his piggy bank. And in the main sniper race, Ovi is 116 goals away from Wayne Gretzky.

After the puck against the Colorado, Caps fans marveled at the shape of the 36-year-old Ovechkin.

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But the third 20-minute passed without Ovechkin’s goals, although the capital’s captain was close to scoring a brace. But even without the goals of the Russian, there was something to see – the teams again exchanged effective attacks and gave an emotional ending. The Colorado hockey players tried with all their might in the last minutes to even the score and save the nine-match winning streak, but the Caps defended competently and could even catch the opponent on the counterattack.

As a result, “Washington” beat “Colorado” – 3: 2, and Ovechkin played an important role in this victory and repeated the achievement of the NHL legend. And in the next match, Ovi can break the sniper record among players over 36 years old.