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Alex Ovechkin Stuck Out His Tongue Before Setting Capitals’ New Goal Scoring Record (GIF)

An early 21st century GIF

It seems like everyone and their mom is sharing stats today about how great Alex Ovechkin is. (This was my personal favorite.) Instead, I’d like to focus on one of Ovechkin’s quirks that makes him similar to another generational athlete: Michael Jordan.

You see, like Mike, Ovechkin is inarguably one of the greatest scorers of his sport. And, like Mike, Ovi routinely sticks out his tongue before big moments in his career.

For instance, Ovechkin wagged his tongue last night before becoming the Capitals’ all-time goal-scoring king. I bet you didn’t even know that! As the Russian machine cut to the middle of the ice, evading a facing-the-wrong-direction PK Subban, he stuck his tongue out. Then he fired and scored, ripping a shot past Carey Price that made Price shake his head like, ‘What in the hell even was that?‘

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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Braden Holtby Assisted on Alex Ovechkin’s Franchise-Record 473rd Goal (Photo)

Photo: @WashCaps

The Washington Capitals have a tradition. Whenever any player scores a milestone goal, the players who assisted will pose together with the puck. This explains the belly laugh-inducing photo of the Sashas and Jason Arnott from a few years ago.

On Thursday night, Alex Ovechkin cheesed for the camera after scoring his franchise-leading 473rd goal and to his right was… Braden Holtby? That can’t be right.

Okay, I’m checking the box score and yes, this is correct. Let’s see just how this happened.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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Humble Barry Trotz Wins 600th Game as Coach

Photo: @WashCaps

While we are jerks and nitpick his lines, there’s no denying Barry Trotz is one of the most successful bench bosses in NHL history. On Thursday, Trotz recorded his 600th career win after the Caps’ 5-4 shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens. That’s a feat that only 12 other men in NHL history have accomplished.

Trotz is the fourth most-winningest active coach in the NHL.

According to @CSNMA, Barry Trotz has the fourth most wins among active NHL coaches pic.twitter.com/NzvewBWEil

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 3, 2015

Most of Trotz’s victories, 557, came during his 15 seasons with the expansion Nashville Predators. Thursday’s win marked Trotz’s 43rd with Washington this season.

After the game, he spoke about his accomplishment with The Washington Post’s Alex Prewitt.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin Scores on Carey Price Again (GIF)

Photo: Francois Lacasse

If there ever was any doubt on who should win the MVP this year, that discussion is now closed. Alex Ovechkin scored a second goal on Carey Price. (See his first here.) This time it came on a perfectly placed rebound, low to the ice.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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No O, Only Ovechkin: Caps beat Habs 5-4 (SO)

(You’re damn right this is the headline image.)

What’s that thing called? That thing when you have the puck and then you shoot it at the other team’s net? It’s a word that’s like “trying to score” except it’s one word instead of three, and I think Canadians pronounce it wrong.

Whatever it was, it was missing in Montreal for most of Thursday night. The Capitals played a lot of defense, but less so of the other thing until they had surrendered the lead. Then Alex Ovechkin did his thing: spat in the dirt, said nyet, and made this a goddamn game.

Enjoy this one.

It was the Canadiens who scored first, with Jeff Petry beating Braden Holtby after a penalty expired early in the second period. Joel Ward struck back with a lovely rush goal on an odd-man rush, and then Alex Ovechkin broke Peter Bondra’s all-time scoring lead with an Ovi shot from the Ovi spot. The Canadiens instantly returned fire with goals by Tom Gilbert and Lars Eller– thanks to bad defense and badder bounces, respectively.

The Caps earned a power play in the third, and Alex Ovechkin converted it to tie the game with nine minutes remaining. John Carlson unleashed a bomb from another power-play, maybe tipped by Joel Ward, to give the Caps a late lead. With Curtis Glencross in the box for a silly penalty, PK Subban scored a gorgeous game-tying goal to force overtime

Shootout bullets!

Galchenyuk did not put the biscuit in the basket.
Kuznetsov did not put the biscuit in the basket. Stupid post.
Desharnais did not put the biscuit in the basket.
Backstrom did not put the biscuit in the basket.
Parenteau did not put the biscuit in the basket. Flashy glove save.
Ovechkin did not put the biscuit in the basket. Hart showdown.
Patches did not put the biscuit in the basket. Diving save by Braden.
BROUWER PUTS THE BROUSCUIT IN THE BRAUSKET

Caps beat Habs 5-4 in le shootout.

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By Peter Hassett 8 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin is the Washington Capitals All-Time Franchise Leader in Goals (GIF)

Photo: @WashCaps

Alex Ovechkin is the Washington Capitals’ all-time goal-scoring leader.

With a power-play snipe to beat Carey Price in the second period of Thursday’s Canadiens game, Alex Ovechkin scored his 473rd goal as a Capital, finally passing the great Peter Bondra.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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Caps at Habs Pregame: The Metro Got Tight

Photo: Capstagram

This is it. This is the final stretch of the regular– sorry, #rego– season. From here until the 11th, the Caps will face a gauntlet of tough teams, all of whom are in the playoff race. We begin tonight with the Montreal Canadiens. If the playoff started today, two things would be true:

the Caps would face the Habs in the first round
you’d be like wtf mate, s’pose t’be 82 games

(Also you’d be Australian, I guess.)

A ton of stuff can and will change between now and the final game of the season, especially if you look at the Metro standings, but I like the way it all looks. Puck drops at 7:30 PM on CSN.

Team	Record	Possession	PDO	Power Play	Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals	42-25-10	52.0%	100.2	24.4%	82.0%
Montreal Canadiens	47-22-8	48.4%	101.5	16.4%	84.0%

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By Peter Hassett 8 years ago

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