Photo credit: Mitchell Layton

Of the 12 playoff games the Capitals have been a part of so far, 11 were won by the team scoring the first goal. Needless to say, with the Caps’ back against the wall in an elimination game tonight, that first goal became pretty important. We didn’t have to wait long.

Jason Chimera drew a penalty within the first minute of play, and Alex Ovechkin scored on a beautiful PP sequence at exactly 88 seconds into the first period. He does have a flair for the dramatic.

Video is below the jump.

With the tally, the Caps captain tied Peter Bondra for the franchise lead in playoff goals with 30. Via the Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle, Ovechkin’s career 0.60 playoff goals per game average is better than Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Jari Kurri, both HOF Hulls, and many others. Only Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Maurice Richard, and Cam Neely have a higher goals per game average.

Ovechscream!