Fueled by mayonnaise and Cheetos, Alex Ovechkin was a wrecking ball in the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, delivering three different hits early.
His biggest (in the words of Craig Laughlin) kabong came against Jake McCabe at center ice.
McCabe caught a pass and turned up the side boards with his head down — a mistake when Ovechkin is on the ice. The Capitals captain quickly put his shoulder into the chest of McCabe, depositing the Leafs rearguard to the ice in spectacular fashion.
OH MY WORD WHAT A HIT FROM OVI ‼️ pic.twitter.com/dNAXs0maXK
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 28, 2024
I am a fan of this man’s carb-heavy diet.
Shortly after, Ovechkin drew a minor penalty on 40-year-old defenseman Mark Giordano after a faceoff. Both players skated laterally for al loose puck and Ovechkin walloped Giordano to the ice. The Leafs rearguard responded with a gloved punch to the face.
Ovechkin’s physicality early, however, couldn’t get the Caps going enough to overcome the Leafs. They lost 5-1, and in their two losses to the Leafs over the last week, have been outscored 12-4.
On the season, Ovechkin has 134 hits through 69 games, good for 93rd best for the league. The player who had the most hits in the Caps-Leafs game, was actually Ovechkin’s protege, Ivan Miroshnichenko, who had a career-high 8.
