Photo credit: Alex Brandon

In the second period of game one, the Washington Capitals looked wobbly, in a one-goal hole and entirely without momentum. Then Aaron Asham checked one of the Caps in the head and Washington went on its fourth power play of the game. That’s when Alex Ovechkin channeled his inner-MVP-ness, scoring his 31st career postseason goal on the power play. It seized back momentum for the Caps, who went on to score two more goals before the period was done. The Caps held on to win 3-1.

With that goal, the Great Eight is Washington’s franchise leader in playoff goals, passing one of my childhood hereos, Peter Bondra.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

After Mike Green shot the puck wide and it caromed hard off the endboards, Ovechkin crashed the net and lofted the biscuit through Henrik Lundqvist’s seven-hole. The goal is even prettier from the goal cam’s perspective.

And now, Ovi shows us all how to celebrate.

The Russian machine was his normal abrasive-self too, dishing out five hits, the most impressive of which was his decking of Ryan Callahan in the first period.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

I love captain-on-captain violence. It’s almost as fun as Sasha-on-Sasha violence.

The Capitals now look to take a 2-0 series lead on Saturday at noon-thirty. If they’re going to do it, they’ll need MOAR of this.