The weak game of the leader led the Caps to defeat in a meeting with an outsider.
Alexander Ovechkin failed to score in the away match against “Philadelphia” and extended his goalless streak to three games. However, this segment does not affect his pursuit of the sniper record in any way. Wayne Gretzky. The Russian still adheres to the schedule and according to all forecasts will overtake the great Canadian.
However, the captain “Washington” not only failed to distinguish himself, but also let his team down. Due to Ovechkin’s mistakes, Philadelphia hit the Caps twice.
The failed match of the Russian forward.
It’s not easier from the return of the leaders
This season, Ovechkin has already played disastrous matches. The striker also had meetings in which he performed more power moves than throws. And more recently, the Russian was the worst in the league in terms of utility. At the same time, the forward showed a frantic performance. Only in December he had two hat-tricks, and in total this season in 44 games he has already scored 29 goals and gave 19 assists.
At the same time, Ovi more and more often in the current “regular season” began to make mistakes in defense and not finish the episodes in his zone. For this, the striker was criticized by the fans. However, Alexander’s mistakes looked more like a consequence of the big problems of the “capital” with the composition. Due to injuries of several leaders at once, the captain almost did not leave the ice. In addition, too much load fell on the defense of “Washington”.
It seemed that after the long-awaited return of Niklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson, the “capital” would finally bounce back. However, even with these players in the Caps, they managed to lose to Philadelphia, which, according to all forecasts, will not even get close to the playoff zone.
Failed Ovechkin match
Washington is ahead of the Islanders, who are in ninth place in the East, by only five points. At the same time, the Islanders have two more games in hand. The “Capital” needed to get a victory over the “pilots”, who already in the middle of the season do not pretend to anything, in order to strengthen their positions and gain a foothold in the top five of the conference. But instead of a confident start to the match, “Washington” in the middle of the period gave the opponent the opportunity to take the lead: the “capital” remained in the minority.
Ovechkin wanted to make an accurate shot from the blue line, but hit the shields of the Pilots’ defense player. The puck bounced off the opponent to Owen Tippet, who immediately ran to the counterattack. Ovi tried to stop the striker, but did it in violation and went to the penalty box.
Philadelphia took only 13 seconds to convert the majority.
Forward hosts Scott Lawton direct throw from the blue line opened the scoring. Ovechkin had only to watch how, because of his removal, Washington conceded the first goal of the game. However, after a few minutes, the captain of the “capital” got the opportunity to correct himself and score in response: Ovechkin ran out one on one with the goalkeeper. Usually, in such episodes, the forward does not invent anything and charges from the brushes into an empty corner. However, in this situation, the Russian decided to first show a false throw. It worked, and the Philadelphia keeper was on the ice, but the forward was unable to lift the puck and hit the goaltender in the shield.
Still, “Washington” managed to recoup at the end of the first period, however, without the help of his captain. However, after 20 seconds, due to another mistake by the Russian, the Capitals began to lose again. This time, Travis Konecny easily threw from under Ovechkin. The Russian forward could have prevented his opponent from sending the puck into the goal by knocking out his stick, but did not have time to react.
It seemed that after the break, “Washington” will get together and begin to act more disciplined. However, at the beginning of the second period, the Capitals missed a dangerous counterattack. Due to a blunder in a foreign zone, the Caps allowed two “pilots” to run out against Darcy Camper at once, but the keeper secured it.
Although Washington needed the victory more, it was Philadelphia that attacked more often in this game segment. Camper had to rescue his partners: the keeper repelled all 12 opponent’s shots. Already in the third period, Ovechkin could score. After the transfer from Evgeny Kuznetsov, the forward had to hit the empty top corner, but again he could not pick up the puck and hit the goalkeeper’s shield. The captain of “Washington” in this game made a total of six shots, but he could not distinguish himself and correct himself for failed episodes.
But the Philadelphia players were doing better with productivity. By the middle of the second period, the “pilots” managed to throw two more goals into the gates of Camper. The Capitals quickly responded with two goals, but the intrigue in the match did not last long. In the end, Konekny scored into an empty net.
As a result, “Washington” lost to “Philadelphia” – 3:5. The captain of the “capital” will try to quickly forget this match and return his club to the victorious tracks.