As a rule, Alexander Ovechkin attracts the attention of the hockey world through sniper records, furious power moves or unique achievements. But due to the events that are taking place right now in Ukraine, there was a special interest in Ovechkin: it was extremely curious how the creator of the Putin Team movement and a long-term follower of Vladimir Putin would comment on the current situation.
“Please, no more war. Difficult situation. My whole family is in Russia, and some moments scare me. But we can’t do anything about it. We just hope that everything will be over soon and everything will be fine. Please, no more wars. It doesn’t matter who is fighting: Russia, Ukraine or other countries – we live in a world that must live in peace, becoming a wonderful world for everyone. Putin is my president. But, as I said, I am out of politics. I’m just an athlete. And I really hope that this will all end soon. But I can’t do anything.”Ovechkin said.
As for other reasons due to which Ovi can draw attention to his person, things are much worse with them. In the last 9 matches, Alexander the Great scored only 5 points and let his competitors go far ahead in the lists of the best snipers and scorers.
The series of failures of our compatriot continued in the match against Philadelphia. In the very first shift, when Alexander the Great was on the ice, the hosts managed to open the scoring – already at the 11th second, Claude Giroud irresistibly threw from the crawl and left no chance for Ilya Samsonov.
A cold shower in the form of a missed puck in the first seconds of the meeting did not wake up the Capitals: the Pilots continued to push, and the defenders of the Capitals made a real passage yard out of their nickel. As a result, Mike Yeoh’s team dominated and had a 9-3 shooting advantage by the middle of the first period.
The Washington players seemed to have weights on their feet, so up to a certain point there could be no question of seizing the initiative. Lavioletta’s guys got a great chance to return to the game at the end of the first twenty minutes: Zach McEwan went to the penalty box and gave the opponent a chance to convert the excess. For any team, this event would be a real gift of fate, but not for Washington, which, according to the implementation of the majority, occupies a modest 28th place in the NHL. And quite predictably, the guests skated 2 minutes of advantage in vain. And already in the next attack after the fifth field player entered the ice, Philadelphia increased the lead in the score: Cam Atkinson outplayed the Washington keeper in close combat.
Ovechkin did not have a single opportunity to score a goal, so the only thing that the captain of the Capitals remembered was a lot of power moves and an aggressive game.
In the second period, it seemed that Ovi and company still had no chance of returning to the game: the Flyers continued to press and acted very actively. But closer to the equator of the meeting, the guests still managed to soak the score – Oshi tried, sending the puck from the near penny just over the shoulder of Carter Hart.
No matter how paradoxical it may seem, in the third period the guys in white looked much more active and faster than in the starting twenty minutes. Motivated Washington players quickly seized the initiative and forced the opponent to spend almost half of the period in their zone. But this did not lead to changes on the scoreboard: from time to time, the Capitals lacked something to equalize the score and put the game into overtime. As a result, 1:2 – a defeat from one of the outsiders of the season.
In the last 2 matches, the Capitals scored only 2 goals against the opponents. Of course, with such performance it is impossible to achieve a positive result in the best league in the world. And Ovi had another nondescript match and could not help his team make a comeback. With such a game of the captain, Washington has nothing to look forward to in the playoffs.