Away record holder – Newspaper Kommersant No. 223 (7424) dated 12/01/2022

Alexander Ovechkin, having twice hit the gates of the Vancouver Canucks, wrote down another sniper record in his track record. The Washington Capitals leader now has 403 away goals in the NHL regular season, and in their number he surpassed the main Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, who will soon remain the only player ahead of the Russian in the total number of goals scored in the league championships.

Vancouver, which hosted Washington, quickly became convinced that it ran into Alexander Ovechkin at an unfortunate moment for itself. A little more than half of the starting period has passed, and the Russian forward managed to score twice. In essence, Ovechkin’s double killed the Vancouverers. In the future, they played with Washington on equal terms, but lost – 1:5, having conceded the fifth goal already into an empty net, after they took the risk of replacing goalkeeper Spencer Martin with a sixth field player long before the end of the match. By the way, it could well have been scored not by Martin Fegervara, but by the same Ovechkin, but his throw missed the target a little. However, even a double was enough for the Russian’s surname to hit dozens of headlines published by leading North American resources.

It’s all about the remarkableness of the goals scored by Alexander Ovechkin, in terms of statistics. The first was his 135th in the regular season, with which he opened the scoring in the match. According to this indicator, Ovechkin caught up with Jaromir Jagr, who still held the record. The second puck was even more noticeable. Alexander Ovechkin scored for the 403rd time in an away match. And here he is already a single record holder. The main Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky had 402 away goals.

And the Vancouver audience, by the way, knew that Ovechkin had surpassed him, and gave the Russian a standing ovation, although, in general, celebrations were not accepted about the success of the opponent. But for a real Canadian who not only loves hockey, but worships it, this case was too special.

Sooner or later, Alexander Ovechkin will go and storm the main sniper achievement of Wayne Gretzky. That one has 894 goals in the regular season, Ovechkin already has 793. Between them, the great Canadian and the great Russian, there is yet another hockey player – Gretzky’s compatriot Gordie Howe. Howe has 801 goals. And in favor of the fact that the leader of “Washington” will bypass him very soon, the fact that in November Ovechkin was “hot” speaks. In the last six matches, he only left the ice twice without an abandoned puck. He constantly has chances, many he creates himself. So eight goals in this context is so-so distance.

Moreover, now the topic of Alexander Ovechkin’s active participation in the sniper race of the season already seems quite relevant, although until recently it seemed that he, 37-year-old, could no longer compete with the young in the crown genre. But no, it’s pushing. Ovechkin already has 13 goals in the current regular season, and he is in the top ten in the sniper rating. And it is headed by Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, who unexpectedly sharply added this season. He has 19 goals. But it is unlikely that any of the hockey experts would dare to suggest that Robertson will maintain his fantastic productivity throughout the regular season. But with regard to Ovechkin, such an assumption, given his previous exploits, does not look risky at all. In fact, he is on a normal schedule for himself – unlike Washington.

Club performance is now somehow badly correlated with the personal performance of Washington’s brightest star, who continues to shine even when the vast majority of hockey peers are either retired or playing in “energy-saving” veteran mode. A confident victory over Vancouver was for the autumn Washington, which often misfires, rather an exception to the rule. The team looks problematic and in its division the Metropolitan is sixth, that is, outside the “play-off zone”.

Alexey Dospekhov