Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Not only did it give Ovechkin seven tallies in his last four games, but it also made him the third player in NHL history to hit 800 goals. That milestone marker sent every Capitals player off the bench to celebrate with Ovechkin on the ice in Chicago.
The Dallas Stars, the Capitals’ next opponent, noticed.
They did not want that to happen to them.
According to Stars’ head coach Pete DeBoer, the team, especially goaltender Jake Oettinger, used Ovechkin’s goals chase as an impetus to play their best hockey on Thursday night at Capital One Arena.
“Nobody wants to be a part of history that way,” DeBoer said. “For sure, Jake doesn’t want to be that guy on the highlight reel 50 years from now being scored on in that situation. I think it was a little bit of motivation for us for sure to try and shut him down.”
Ovechkin’s next goals would have been 801 and 802, which would have tied and passed Gordie Howe for second place on the goals list.
“Pete (DeBoer) said before, his next two goals, the whole team is going to come out off the bench,” Oettinger said. “Obviously, I don’t want that to happen. Not in his house. He can have it another night.”
The Stars went on to beat the Capitals 2-1 despite being massively outshot, 46-26. Oettinger made 45 saves. Ovechkin was honored during the first TV timeout of the game.
The only goal the Stars’ young star was beaten on was a Conor Sheary goal where Oettinger was admittedly too distracted on stopping an Ovechkin shot. Ovi sent a slap pass to Sheary who had a layup in front of the net. “He made a great play on the goal they scored for an assist,” DeBoer said.
8⃣&7⃣3⃣ has been quite the combo lately 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GlRmpZIpg5
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 16, 2022
“They’ve got a lot of other great guys over there too,” Oettinger said. “Even on the goal they scored, I got a little too focused on him.”
Pregame, Oettinger, 23, admitted that any time he plays against Ovechkin is surreal.
“Guys like that you never really get used to playing against just as a little kid watching and stuff,” he said. “Obviously Ovechkin is the best goal scorer of all time and he’s doing some pretty special stuff right now. It’s just fun to get the opportunity to play against all-time greats. That’s pretty cool. It’s something I’ll tell my kids about someday.”
But Oettinger stepped up to the challenge with one of his best games of the year.
“We’ve kind of seen that day one when he first came in here,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “Pretty poised. Pretty confident. Nothing’s really too big for him. I’m sure that was some pressure on him tonight obviously with Ovi’s chase there. Did an unbelievable job.”
DeBoer termed the 2-1 victory as a goalie win.
“To keep [Ovechkin] off the goal scoreboard is a feat,” he said.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
