Alex Ovechkin knows he’s got to make up some ground to catch up to David Pastrnak for the league lead in goals. Luckily, the NHL schedule-makers brought him to Minnesota on Sunday night.
Ovechkin has two goals in the first period alone.
Both Goals
Goal 1
His first goal of the night, 44th goal of the season, 702nd goal of all time, was a classic Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot. The Caps had a two-man advantage as Pateryn and Stalock got busted for penalties, so Ovechkin ordered a pass from John Carlson to score.
🚨Alex Ovechkin Goal Alert🚨@Capitals | #WSHvsMIN#ShotoftheNight presented by: @JagermeisterUSA pic.twitter.com/yhp6FMDnRX
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) March 2, 2020
Goal 2
Then, just a few minutes later, Ovechkin did it again with a rush attack set up by Evgeny Kuznetsov. That was Ovi’s second goal of the night, goal number 45 of the season, and goal number 703 of all time.
We've seen this before. 🚨
Make it 2️⃣ for @ovi8 as we hit the halfway mark of the FIRST PERIOD.
📺: NBCSN
💻: https://t.co/jnBxyUqdWO pic.twitter.com/uKtBk046iv— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) March 2, 2020
Ovi’s tally was assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Kovalchuk. The secondary assist marked Kovy’s first point as a Capital. Kovalchuk took several shifts with the first line in the first period.
Ilya Kovalchuk assists on an Alex Ovechkin goal for the first time in his Capitals career. Before the Caps' trade with the Habs, the two friends have wanted to play on the same team since they were 13-years-old. https://t.co/ADMAFPxYTy
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 2, 2020
Ilya Kovalchuk recorded an assist on Ovechkin's second goal, marking his first point as a Capital.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 2, 2020
With the goal, Ovechkin now has the third-most road goals in NHL history, passing Jaromir Jagr.
Alex Ovechkin of the @Capitals tallied twice in the first period and has now scored 356 career regular-season goals on the road.
He leapfrogged Jaromir Jagr (355) for sole possession of the third-most in NHL history. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/FBmIxD3xXx
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 2, 2020
Ovechkin has 17 goals in 17 career games against the Wild. According to the Capitals PR, Ovechkin has averaged more goals per game against Minnesota (1.00 goals per game) than any other franchise. In addition, Ovi has scored 11 career goals in games played on March 1- tied for the most on a single calendar day (Jan 31: 11 goals).
But, you guys, the night is still young.
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Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Wild
Headline photo courtesy of NBCSN
