Sunday’s matinee battle between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers was a frantic, high-scoring affair. Brady Skjei’s last-minute, six-on-five goal forced the game into overtime, which was just as wild as regulation.
The game ended, as it should, with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov taking over and showing the world why they rule it.
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The Capitals dominated four-on-four overtime even before the game-winner. Carl Hagelin’s wrist shot nearly ended the game ninety seconds earlier. But when Todd Reirden iced the Russian troika of Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov, the Caps harassed Henrik Lundqvist’s net for a good 30 seconds, firing three shots on goal on five shot attempts.
The winner was classic Ovi-Kuzy chaos. Ovechkin fakes a monster slapshot from the slot. Instead of shooting, he passes to Evgeny Kuznetsov, low on the goal line. The pass gets both Rangers defender Brady Skjei and Lundqvist to drop to the ice. Kuznetsov attempts to put the puck behind Lundqvist, but he gets a touch on it. Ovechkin dives in to clean it up, but it’s Kuznetsov, according to NHL officials, who gets the final touch and credit for the game-winner.
It’s worth noting that Ovechkin celebrates as if he scored the goal.
Ovechkin’s and Kuznetsov’s sticks both reach the puck. Lundqvist’s stick stymies Ovechkin’s cleanup attempt, but he and Kuznetsov each get the final touch — with Ovechkin’s stick pushing Kuznetsov’s below the goal line.
That’s even clearer from the overhead angle.
NBC Sports’ Al Koken asked Evgeny Kuznetsov whether it was he or Ovechkin who scored. “It doesn’t matter,” Kuznetsov said. “As long as we get two points that’s all we need.
“That’s what’s going to happen when three Russian guys on ice, you know?” Kuznetsov said. “I feel like we’re sharing the puck pretty well. After you give up that late goal, you kind of work to get that goal back because that was our game and we almost give up that extra point.”
@russianmachine the bird flying around the arena was omen for kuzy
— Jennifer Bimson (@Jencapsfan74) February 24, 2019
A bird kept flying around the arena during the game and we kept saying it was an omen. At one time it was on the net by lundy. Thought it might get whacked by a puck
— Jennifer Bimson (@Jencapsfan74) February 24, 2019
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