The Washington Capitals took a 1-0 lead early against the Montreal Canadiens thanks to, who else, Alex Ovechkin. The tally looked remarkably similar to Ovi’s record-breaking 895th career goal.
While on the Capitals’ first power play of the night, Dylan Strome gained entry into the offensive zone and dished to Tom Wilson on the right wing. Wilson then sent a cross-ice pass to Ovechkin, who gathered in the puck and sent a snap shot short-side past Sam Montembeault short side.
Ovechkin set the tone early for the Capitals in the first period, posting two shots, four hits, and 5 individual shot attempts.
The goal was Ovechkin’s 73rd goal in 152 career playoff games, tying Dino Ciccarelli for the 14th most in NHL history. It was also his 29th career playoff power-play goal, passing Evgeni Malkin and Denis Potvin (28) for eighth on the all-time list.
“Yeah it’s huge obviously,” Connor McMichael told Monumental Sports Network at intermission. “Game 1 at home we wanted to get the crowd into it early. I thought we did a really good job of dictating play and just letting the plays come to us.”
According to Capitals PR, Ovechkin has scored 10 Game 1 goals in his career.
Update: Alex Ovechkin scored a second goal, his first career overtime playoff tally, to move into a tie with Joe Pavelski for 13th on the NHL’s all-time playoff goals list. The Capitals would go on to win Game 1, 3-2, and take a 1-0 series lead.
