Alexander Ovechkin’s modest performance does not prevent his club from snatching victories

The NHL regular season match, in which the Washington Capitals defeated the Los Angeles Kings away 2:1, was remembered primarily for the role of Alexander Ovechkin in it. Accustomed to grandiose sniper and scorer achievements, the Russian forward spent less than 14 minutes on the ice this time, a record short time for himself, and left it for the fourth time in a row without scoring a single point. At the same time, despite the leader’s modest performance, Washington looks much stronger than last season, when it did not make it to the playoffs.

Of course, many media resources covering the NHL could not help but pay attention to these figures. We are talking about the playing time that fell to Alexander Ovechkin in the match between his “Washington” and “Los Angeles”. It was 13 minutes and 49 seconds. In fact, this is a completely normal indicator, but for a fourth-line forward, and not an outstanding player, on whose form the club has depended for almost two decades. For Ovechkin, it was not formally a record low. In his North American career, which began in 2005, there were five matches in which playing time was even less. But the thing is that Ovechkin was prevented from reaching his usual level for about 20 minutes either by injuries or removals. And here – neither one nor the other.

And we’re also talking about the fact that Alexander Ovechkin didn’t score a single point against Los Angeles. The trick is that this is the forward’s fourth match in a row without them. The fourth match without points from a great scorer and, most importantly, a great sniper, from whom goals are now expected in a way that was not expected in his younger years. After all, Ovechkin is chasing the leader of the NHL sniper race of all time, Wayne Gretzky. And the Russian legend, with her 827 goals in the regular championships, is separated from the Canadian by 67. A distance that is now unclear how to perceive it – as meager, remembering Ovechkin’s previous exploits, or still as very respectable. After all, in the current championship, in 19 matches, he has scored five times so far. That’s not even Washington’s best, with Dylan Strome having eight goals. And he certainly does not hint that after the end of the championship, Ovechkin will get closer to Gretzky. But together with coach Spencer Carbery’s fresh decision to so sharply reduce the leader’s playing time, which is terribly necessary in order to have a chance to score, hints that for him, no longer just a veteran, but a 38-year-old super-veteran, the finishing part of the chase will be far from as simple as it seemed recently.

But there is another fact that is also impossible to ignore. Washington looked bad last season. He didn’t make it to the playoffs. Moreover, he did nothing to get into it, refusing, for example, bold exchanges. And in the summer it was impossible to see any activity in it in the near future. The only noticeable change was the invitation, after the dismissal of Peter Laviolette, a mentor with an excellent reputation, who was immediately useful to the New York Rangers, who with him is now flying forward at full speed, Spencer Carbery with his zero experience in managing an NHL club. There was no escape from the feeling that Washington was quite happy with the status of a middling player, who, however, had Ovechkin with his pursuit of a great record. But the reality is completely different.

Ovechkin is being much more modest than usual, and if he suddenly even gets close to the 40-goal mark he surpassed in the last championship, it will be like a miracle. But at the same time, his team, which has already been written off as scrap, is holding up perfectly, which, albeit often with great difficulty, on a thin, albeit sometimes, as in the match with Los Angeles, through the efforts of the players of the “lower” links and the goalkeeper, but obtains the necessary things to be at the top of the table, points. And Washington, already included by ESPN in the short list of the brightest surprises of the fall, is in the “playoff zone.” In its strong Metropolitan Division, it trails only the Rangers and the pre-season Stanley Cup contender Carolina Hurricanes.

Alexey Dospehov