Even the most optimistic Caps fans were surprised by their team’s perfect playoff start. The Capitals, who finished in the regular season in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, unexpectedly beat the owner of the President’s Cup Florida.

After the first victory, Washington fans even believed that the playoffs were really a different tournament, and all the team’s problems remained somewhere far away, in the past regular season. But the second match of the confrontation brought the Caps fans down to earth – the Capitals lost big and played terribly on defense.

It seemed that the third meeting would be a continuation of the fall of the Caps. However, Alexander Ovechkin turned the streak upside down – he gave out a ghost pass, scored from the office and helped Washington take a convincing revenge.

Looks like a huge sensation is brewing in this series.

Ovechkin effect

Before the start of the Stanley Cup, the head coach of “Washington” Peter Laviolette had to solve a difficult task: to choose the main goaltender for the playoffs. After all, the goalkeeper line of “Washington” failed more than once during the season.

As a result, the coach put on Vitek Vanechek. In the first game of the series, he helped the Caps win with 30 saves, but he looked unconvincing in the second. For two periods, the keeper repelled only 14 out of 19 shots and was replaced by Ilya Samsonov. The Russian, on the other hand, dried up the Panthers in the final 20 minutes.

Therefore, no one was surprised that Samsonov came out at the start for the third match. However, many fans regarded such reshuffle as a sign of nervousness and impotence. The fact that the Caps are playing against a team with a powerful attack also heats up the situation – the Panthers scored more than four goals per game on average in the regular season.

Therefore, the fans of the Caps are so hopeful for Alexander Ovechkin, who is able to cover all the minuses of the capital with his game. The Ovi effect is Washington’s main key to victory. With the Russian on the ice, Washington averages 19 more shots and two more goals than without Ovechkin on the ice.

And in the third match of the series, Ovi again showed that these statistics are not an accident, but a pattern.

Ghost Pass by Ovi

The match for the Caps fans began with the usual thing – the fans again complained about the terrible game of their goaltender. Already in the third minute, Jonathan Huberdo shot Samsonov with a direct throw. The Russian, claiming to be the main keeper, had to cope with such a task, but for some reason missed this puck.

Hockey players “Washington” strongly wound up after a bad start and began to play hard against the “Florida”. Ovechkin especially proved himself in this – the captain of the “capital” carried out several crushing power moves. Another Russian, Yevgeny Kuznetsov, also became angry in his own way. During the stoppage of the game, Kuzya deliberately waved his stick in the face of the Panther player, pretending to want to hit the opponent on the head.

The dominance of “Washington” in the power game brought its results – the “capital” forced “Florida” to retire at the end of the first period and instantly converted the majority.

And the main hero of a successful game in unequal lineups was Ovi. Alexander from the blue line with a strong wrist shot sent the puck into the goal of Sergei Bobrovsky. And what was the surprise of the audience when the judges announced that the goal was not scored by the captain of the Capitals. And only in slow motion you can see – TJ Oshi corrected the puck, flying at insane speed, on target. Caps fans praised Ovechkin’s performance.

— Everything happened so quickly, so at first I thought that Ovi scored the goal, but in any case, I’m happy, writes RelCuyan

– Alexander Ovechkin – assist master, – admires the game of the Russian DomJSII

Courage “Washington” was preserved after the break. In general, the second period in this match is the best 20-minute Caps in the current playoffs. The Capitals played almost without mistakes in defense, and twice upset Bobrovsky in attack. But the most important thing is that Washington’s keeper Samsonov, after a mistake in the first period, got ready and began to drag. In the second 20 minutes, he has 13 saves, including some spectacular saves. Caps fans quickly forgot about the Russian’s mistake and began to praise him.

– It was this Samsonov who was drafted by Washington. Sammy, keep it up! – writes zokolev

– We needed him and he appeared, we finally have a goalkeeper in the playoffs! — happy Gatorsforkey

In the final 20 minutes, the plot of the match did not change at all. “Washington” looked better than the opponent, and Samsonov continued to help out teammates. The Caps fans lacked only one thing for complete happiness – an abandoned puck from the captain. Over the first two games, Ovechkin made nine shots, but he could not manage to hit the gates of Bobrovsky. However, the striker, who finished the season in fourth place in scoring with 50 goals, sooner or later must excel in the playoffs.

In many ways, Ovi couldn’t score because of the tight tutelage of the Panthers. But in the final period, the Florida players made an unforgivable mistake – they forgot about Ovechkin, leaving him in the office, and the Russian took the chance. The captain of “Washington” flashed Bobrovsky with a powerful one-touch throw. Ovi now has 72 goals in the NHL playoffs.

In the remaining time, the Caps upset the Russian goalkeeper of the Panthers twice more. First, John Carlson threw into an empty net, and then Garnet Hathaway put an end to the match.

As a result, the Caps defeated Florida and took a convincing revenge – 6: 1. Ovi once again demonstrated leadership qualities, and Samsonov caught the courage and repelled 29 shots. Now “Washington” needs to go to the next match, as if it were a continuation of today. Then it will be very difficult for the Panthers to oppose something to Ovechkin and his team.