Jakob Chychrun found himself in a spot during Tuesday night’s game between the Washington Capitals and the Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena.
During the first period of Washington’s eventual 6-5 loss, Chychrun went awkwardly into the boards behind the Capitals’ net while making a puck recovery on a power play. The feet-first collision knocked the skate blade out of his right skate and left him immobile right in front of goaltender Logan Thompson.
The high-scoring defenseman immediately shouted for help from his teammates and he got it from captain Alex Ovechkin, who propelled Chychrun toward Washington’s bench with a couple of spears to the fallen defender’s rear end.
Alex Ovechkin pushes Jakob Chychrun to Capitals bench with stick
No, that isn’t running back Saquon Barkley executing the Philadelphia Eagles’ famous Tush Push by shoving quarterback Jalen Hurts over the pile to earn a first down; it’s the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL jabbing his good pal in the rump to help save the remaining time on Washington’s power play.
With Ovechkin’s assistance, the near-helpless Chychrun could quickly get off the ice for repairs, replaced by Cole Hutson with nearly 90 seconds remaining on the man advantage.
Ovechkin has recorded plenty of assists during his career, still just two shy of overtaking Nicklas Backstrom for Washington’s all-time franchise lead, but he won’t see his name on the scoresheet for this one.
Despite the quicker-than-usual end to his power-play shift and time on the bench to get a new blade installed, Chychrun still led all skaters in the game with 26:50 of ice time. He later scored his second goal of the season on another power-play and notched his ninth assist on Ryan Leonard‘s late third-period goal.
Chychrun and the rest of the Capitals will hope he avoids another Bambi on ice situation this season, but they now know the team’s captain is ready to come to the rescue if needed.
