Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin, who had a brilliant regular season and scored the most points for himself in 12 years, remained a pale shadow of himself in the playoffs. In the sixth match of the first round of the Stanley Cup with “Florida” on account of the best sniper, “Capitals” had only one shot on target! This Ovechkin had no chance against the NHL’s leading team.

Before the sixth match, “Washington” had no choice – it was necessary to win in order not to finish the season ahead of schedule. Therefore, the application that this would not be a game, but a real battle, was made by the Capitals at the very start – in the very first shift, Alexander Ovechkin used force against defender Aron Ekblad, who, after a powerful push from the Russian, flew onto the ice. The fall did not go unnoticed for the Canadian, for some time he left the game.

A few minutes later, “Washington” found another victim – this time the goalkeeper “Panthers” Sergei Bobrovsky lost his helmet after his box became too crowded and he collided with Garnet Hathaway. The aggressive game of the “Capitals”, which surpassed the opponent in hits for the first period 26:11, did not bear any fruit: the score in the match was never opened.

Photo: © Eliot J. Schechter / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.com

The time for the first goal came at the beginning of the next 20 minutes: Nick Dowd shot Bobrovsky close, the puck bounced off the post between the goalkeeper’s legs, and the forward managed to finish it off. But the joy of the “Capitals” was short-lived, just 2.5 minutes later Ryan Lumberg equalized. Ilya Samsonov, who came out at the start of “Washington” for the third meeting in a row, could not physically do anything: the defenders missed the attack of “Florida”, which went “2 to 0”. While the goalkeeper rushed to defend one corner, the gate was shot from the other.

In the second period, the game leveled off – the “Panthers” returned to their usual attacking mode, throwing the “Capitals”. “Washington” on the basis of forty minutes clearly lacked Ovechkin’s usual sniper grip. Although he distributed hits to the right and left, he did not threaten the gates so actively: all of his 4 shots were blocked or flew past the target.

But even with the silent captain, “Washington” found heroes. The third period began with an accurate shot from capital striker Justin Schultz, corrected at the gate by Niklas Backstrom. Bobrovsky was ready to trap the puck, but a rebound from the Swede thwarted his plans. A minute later, the goalkeeper of the “Panthers” was again left without a helmet, literally repulsing the puck after a powerful shot. “The best defense is an attack,” the Capitals logically decided, and did not slow down, continuing to climb on Bobrovsky’s position.

Photo: © REUTERS/Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

But the most attacking NHL team in this component is not so easy to beat. In order to restore equality in the account, Florida took seven minutes and one accurate throw between Claude Giroud Samsonov’s legs. Without waiting for overtime, it seemed that the final point in the meeting was put by the captain of the Panthers, Alexander Barkov, who took advantage of the lightning-fast reaction of partners on the selection – 3:2. But the “Capitals” did not give up just like that, and at the right moment TJ Oshie fired, who miraculously shoved the puck into Bobrovsky’s goal, fighting on the patch with an opponent. There was only one minute left before the end of regular time!

The most joyful player of “Washington” at that moment was Ovechkin – having witnessed the goal, he jumped up, almost fell upon landing and rushed into the thick of his partners.

But in fact, it was just a breath of fresh air before an imminent death: the fate of the series, “Florida” decided already in the third minute of overtime, skillfully playing the attack through the efforts of Giroud and Carter Verhague, who put an end to the meeting. “Washington” failed to arrange the main surprise of the first round, and the winner of the regular season, predictably, went to the semifinals of the conference.