Capitals' Ovechkin opens scoring, nets OT winner vs. Canadiens
Published
In the season where he broke the NHL’s all-time goal record, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is not finished filling the net.
Ovechkin scored twice, including his first playoff overtime marker, as the Capitals earned a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in their series opener on Monday.
The Capitals' captain found space in front of Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault at the 2:26 mark of the extra frame and batted a puck out of mid-air to win the series opener.
In the first period he snapped a wrist shot past the Habs' goalie at the 18:34 mark to open the scoring.
While these playoff markers will not add to the NHL-record 897 goals the 39-year-old has scored over 1491 regular season games, it does bring his postseason total to 74, which moves Ovechkin past Dino Ciccarelli and into a tie with Joe Pavelski for the 13th most playoff goals in NHL history.
He also becomes the fourth-oldest player to score a playoff OT goal behind Igor Larionov, Ray Whitney and Steve Thomas.
Ovechkin has captured the Maurice Richard Trophy for leading the NHL in regular season scoring nine times.
He also helped lead the Capitals to the Stanley Cup in 2017-18 and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in the victory.