Hockey
Ovechkin hasn’t scored in eight games! And “Washington” was deflated without his goals
It’s been a tough stretch for the Capitals.
Alexander Ovechkin has not scored in eight matches! Without his goals, Washington was defeated again. The Capitals lost to Detroit for the second time in a row, but this time in overtime.
How much the capital’s club misses the Russian captain’s goals!
Capitals problems
Washington played perhaps its best match of the season, achieving a shutout victory over Toronto (4:0), but then followed a painful defeat against Detroit. In the first half of the meeting, it even seemed that the players of the capital club were very heavy and simply could not keep up with the Red Wings hockey players. As a result, the Capitals, of course, woke up, but it was too late: Spencer Carbury’s team lost at home – 2:5. This is already the fourth defeat in the last five meetings. During this period, Washington allowed 18 goals and scored only 9 goals.
We can say that the Capitals have certain problems both in defense and in attack, but the team before the second road meeting with Detroit was in third place in the East and continues to fight for leadership in the conference. So it’s too early to talk about the onset of a crisis, and Carbery did not make fundamental changes to the composition, relying on established combinations.
True, there were still some spot changes. So, instead of Sonny Milano, Hendrix Lapierre appeared in the lineup, and Charlie Lindgren took his place in the frame.
Decisive goal in overtime
The Capitals clearly worked on their mistakes after the defeat: in the return match, the guests looked much more active and faster than their opponents in the first period. Even in terms of shots, Washington’s dominance was obvious: 14 shots on target versus four. It is not surprising that it was the capital’s club that opened the scoring.
In the 15th minute, Ethan Frank rolled around a defender at speed, put goalie Cam Talbot on the ice and sent the puck between his pads – 1:0. Considering the spectacular solo pass, it’s hard to believe that the 27-year-old forward made his NHL debut only last season. In the current regular season he already has “5+7”.
It seemed that Washington would continue to develop its advantage, but in the middle of the second period the visitors were let down by a deletion. Detroit took advantage of the numerical advantage and converted the first power play of the game: Axel Sandin-Pellikka put Lucas Raymond in a killer position, and he tested the strength of the left post with a powerful wrist shot, from which the puck bounced into the goal.
With some momentum, the Red Wings took the lead after a few shifts. John Leonard was circling in the opponent’s zone, moving towards the blue line, but then turned sharply into the open top corner – 2:1. For John, this is the second goal this season and the most interesting thing is that he scored both goals against the team of his younger brother, Ryan Leonard.
In the third period, Washington had to be saved from another defeat by… Frank! After John Carlson’s pass, the visiting forward approached the goal and again upset Talbot by scoring a double. For the striker, this is the second time in his career when he scored 2+ goals in one game.
During regulation time, it was not possible to identify a winner, and the game went into overtime, where the hosts gained the majority. At 4-on-3, the Red Wings came close to scoring, but Lindgren’s fantastic play allowed the Capitals to hold on. However, with equal strengths, Detroit still snatched victory: the decisive shot was scored by Moritz Seider – 3:2.
Washington has six losses in its last eight games! During this period, Alexander Ovechkin never scored a goal. The team’s dependence on his effective actions is obvious! The Capitals’ next game will be at home against the Rangers.
Source: Sportbox
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.