During the first half of his career, Alex Ovechkin took a brunt of the blame from national media for never getting the Capitals past the second round of the playoffs. He was too selfish, a coach killer. But his numbers never seemed to correlate with that narrative.
Tuesday night, after the Capitals defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 in Game Four, Todd Reirden was asked about Ovechkin’s huge two-goal performance, which included the game-winner in the third period.
Todd gushed about his captain but glossed over Ovi’s world-class goal-scoring ability. It was the other things that impressed him and made the Capitals a different team that night.
Video
Caps head coach Todd Reirden talks to the media after a 3-2 win in Game 4 against the New York Islanders pic.twitter.com/px7pTeiKq2
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) August 19, 2020
“I’ve watched him play for a long time whether it’s coaching him or coaching against him and he always seems to come through in the big moments,” Reirden said. “I would say, obviously the goals we don’t need to discuss this. No one can score goals like this player. It’s the other stuff that went on. It was what was said in the locker room. It was stuff said to the teammates. It was stuff said on the bench. It was his physicality. It was belief. It was the emotion he showed after he scored the goal that (told his teammates), ‘get in line, we’re going.'”
Ovechkin’s two goals allowed him to pass Gordie Howe and Sidney Crosby for sole possession of 18th place all-time in playoff goals (69).
Alex Ovechkin gets a second goal for the @Capitals to move past Gordie Howe and Sidney Crosby (both w/ 68) for sole possession of 18th place on the League’s all-time list. #NHLStats #StanleyCup https://t.co/GzJZ2M12zL
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) August 19, 2020
His two goals in the elimination game were the 12th and 13th of his career, placing him sixth all-time.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 12th and 13th career goals in games where the @Capitals faced elimination.@ovi8 now trails only five skaters for the most career goals when facing elimination in NHL history. #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/LS4zpsyGvp
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) August 19, 2020
Ovechkin was so locked in that Reirden put the Russian machine, not known as a defensive dynamo, on the ice for the final minute to try and close out the game. The captain could be seen sliding aggressively to try and block a point shot. While his two goals were the difference, Ovi also chipped in three hits and two blocked shots on the score sheet. His line was dominant at times even strength.
“He’s a generational talent on the ice,” Reirden added Wednesday. “You can get that out of the way right now. He’s amazing at what he does – not just scoring goals but other things. He’ll likely go down as the best goal-scorer ever. It’s the things that I’ve seen him grow in the six years that I’ve been here that have really helped define our organization having the success that we had a few years ago ultimately winning the Stanley Cup. His leadership overall has grown immensely. I cannot even define all the ways that it’s grown and I’ve been able to watch and see and help be a part of it.
“You’re always happy to see someone – not just as a player as a person – change right in front of your eyes. Obviously, that’s everything from becoming a father to taking on the role of being a leader in the room and fighting against adversity and ultimately putting that Cup over his head. He’s hungry to do it again. We put ourselves in a tough spot where we didn’t deserve to win the first three games. Last night was the first game we put the work in, put enough work and commitment in. He was a leader in terms of what he said and how he went about it. That’s what has to be matched to give us a chance to continue in this tournament and in this playoff.”
