Alex Ovechkin officially began his 21st NHL season on Wednesday night.
Announced to the ice as “the NHL’s all-time goals leader,” the 40-year-old Washington Capitals captain played his first game at full speed after missing a large chunk of training camp due to a lower-body injury and suiting up in only two exhibition games.
While Ovechkin was dangerous several times on the ice, he did not put up a point or dent the twine in the Capitals’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.
“I feel okay,” Ovechkin said after the game to reporters. “First couple shifts, I try to find the rhythm. We take it. Obviously, we don’t get a result.”
On offense, Ovechkin finished the night with three shots on goal, nine shot attempts, and one individual scoring chance. He also added two hits and drew one penalty. Over his last four season-opening games, Ovechkin has not scored and has only registered one point, an assist.
“Rusty with the puck, that’s what I saw,” Carbery said of Ovechkin’s performance. “Had some good opportunities, some good looks, but some situations that you know he would like to do more with. It’ll take some time, and he’ll get back into it.”
When the final horn sounded, Ovechkin finished with 18:16 of total ice time — the third-most among all Capitals forwards. The only others that skated more than him were Tom Wilson (22:15) and Aliaksei Protas (19:16), who played at all three strengths on Wednesday.
Nearly a third of Ovechkin’s ice time came on the power play where he skated a game-high six minutes and 22 seconds. Unlike in years past, though, Ovechkin’s power play time was more managed, and he did not skate at times with the second unit.
“It’s not quantity, it’s quality with O now at this point in his career, so it’s my job to find him that quality,” Carbery said. “I have to make sure that his minutes are where they need to be, and we’re utilizing him in the spots to use his strengths and what he does at an elite level at this point in his career.”
The lack of cohesion at five-on-five and the Capitals’ power play going 0 for 5 — a failed 5-on-3 chance in the second period was especially costly– ultimately doomed the team.
“I thought we played solid game and we had lots of chances,” Ovechkin said. “Obviously, we didn’t score on our chances on the PP. At the end, we still have chance to tie.”
He added, “First couple games, it’s always gonna be different. It’s gonna be different pace, different atmosphere. Maybe hold stick too tight. I think it’s first game for both teams and you could see there was lots of bounces, kinda miscommunications. You know, it sucks so we’re going to move on.”
Ovechkin’s next opportunity to find paydirt will come in an arena that will likely give im good vibes. The Capitals play their first back-to-back of the season, beginning their weekend facing off against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena — the site where Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal last season. Ovechkin sits a hat trick away from 900 in his career.
