Together with his two objectives on Friday evening in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals celebrity Alexander Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record with 894 goals scored. He had what gave the impression to be a main alternative to interrupt it and turn out to be the NHL’s all-time main goal-scorer within the ultimate minute when the Blackhawks pulled goalie Spencer Knight for an additional attacker.
However Ovechkin didn’t get the objective empty-net objective, with that honor as an alternative going to rookie Ryan Leonard for his first NHL objective.
That was not an accident, and it was very a lot by design.
Ovechkin merely didn’t need his record-breaking objective to return with no goalie within the web.
On one hand, it is vitally admirable — and never stunning — that Ovechkin needs the document to be damaged towards a goalie. Maybe even on one in every of his signature one-timers from the circle on the facility play, or some type of spotlight reel play that might be remembered.
An empty-net objective would take away a number of the luster from the second.
Not all of it. However actually a few of it.
Nevertheless it was additionally an ideal alternative to interrupt the document on what would have been a hat-trick objective, and in entrance of the hometown followers in Washington. All of that may have actually made up for the dearth of a goalie.
However that didn’t matter to Ovechkin, who clearly has a imaginative and prescient in thoughts for a way he needs this second to go. If he goes a number of extra video games this season with out scoring a objective he might change his thoughts on that imaginative and prescient.
Now the Capitals are occurring the street for Sunday’s recreation on the New York Islanders, creating the chance for Ovechkin to interrupt the document on the street. Capitals followers actually don’t care the place he does it, however doing it at residence would have actually added one other layer of pleasure to the second.
If he doesn’t break the document on Sunday towards the Islanders, the Capitals will return residence on Thursday towards the Carolina Hurricanes. Of the Capitals’ six remaining common season video games this season, solely two extra of them are at residence.
