Alexander Ovechkin was almost the only bright spot for Washington in the match with Nashville, but even his efforts, another goal and an assist were not enough to win.

The reaction of many Americans was unexpectedly strong. And, frankly speaking, inadequate. They demand that the NHL’s top star be kicked out of Washington.

He fought for the team until the last moment

Nashville has cheered up a little this season after last year’s fiasco, but still only dreams of getting into the playoffs. Before the home game against Washington, the team was in 12th place in the Western Conference.

In this confrontation, experts considered Washington to be the favorite. The fact that the Predators were playing their second match in two days spoke in favor of the capital. The day before, Nashville lost without a chance on home ice to Chicago, which is also not doing well in the current regular season.

The meeting started off well for the Capitals. Ovechkin converted the majority with his signature flick from his own “office.” But Nashville turned the game around, scoring three goals in a row. The Capitals were catastrophically unlucky: they knocked the entire frame of the goal, but could not score until the 50th minute, when Ovechkin made a cool pass to Ethan Frank.

With the score 2:3, Washington removed the goalkeeper. Ovechkin fought until the very end for a draw in regulation time and even pulled the puck out of the empty net. But it was not possible to eliminate the minimal backlog.

Despite the Capitals’ defeat, Ovechkin rewrote another batch of achievements and reached the 20-goal mark in a season for the 21st time in his career. You need to understand that none of the living players has managed to do this in the NHL. Only the legendary hockey long-liver Gordie Howe scored two dozen goals or more 22 times in the last century.

Alexander Ovechkin / Photo: © Cameron Bartlett / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“Ovechkin is just terrible”

Many American fans praised the captain’s dedication. But Ovechkin also had to face criticism, harsh and not always fair. Alexander is blamed for the team’s failures and is even demanded to be kicked out of the team.

— Put Lapierre on the bench, and send Ovechkin to the last line of attack. Well, shuffle the links, especially the majority, suggests skodenstoodis306.

— Ovechkin scored, that’s good. But he played poorly, often lost the puck and failed attacks. I hope Wilson comes back and plays on the first line so Alexander can move to the third line, where he belongs. “He can’t keep up with the first two links,” miscou8 assesses the Russian’s game.

“It’s sad, but he’s causing problems this season.” Perhaps Alexander is out of shape. He wasn’t like that last season, writes Reesebrett.

“The Capitals look better without Ovechkin,” says andrew.kotecki.

— Alex Ovechkin is just terrible. He no longer knows how to handle the puck, loses every fight along the boards and has a hard time shooting the puck. “He needs to end his career as soon as possible,” urges @CarrollBen39092.

– Let him play out his contract in the first line and in the majority, and then say politely: “Get the hell out.” He barely reaches the level of a professional hockey player, although he makes nine million. Let him make room in the first line for the younger Protas or Crystal,” @CoolHutsonCaps is indignant.

– Selfish, of course, on my part, but I would like Ovechkin to retire after this season, since his contract expires. “Capitals need to build a new team,” writes @tastelikeoldbay.

Naturally, age leaves its mark on Alexander’s game, but haters need to pay attention to the fact that he doesn’t even need to move much in order to produce luxurious passes and leave his opponents in the cold. Not all forwards in the NHL are capable of scoring 20 goals per season even at the peak of their careers, and Ovechkin has been scoring “twenty” for the 21st season in a row, remaining one of the team’s leaders in scoring.