Ovechkin scored the 871st goal in his career and broke another NHL record – RT in Russian

The match between Washington and Minnesota had every chance of becoming one of the central matches of the next game day for Russian hockey fans. Even if it was in absentia, the duel between Alexander Ovechkin and Kirill Kaprizov was literally bound to attract enormous attention from the audience, but this time it was not possible to provide a loud sign. The Wild leader was still in the hospital, so fans had to focus on two other confrontations involving the legendary sniper – with Wayne Gretzky and Marc-Andre Fleury.

Over the long years of their careers, the Russian and the Canadian have crossed paths on the ice several times. Their confrontation began back in the days when the goalkeeper defended the colors of Pittsburgh, one of Washington’s worst rivals in the 21st century, which repeatedly left it out of the playoffs. Fleury won three championships with the Penguins before moving to Vegas. And although he didn’t slow down, this time he couldn’t stop Ovechkin. In 2018, he brought the Golden Knights to the final, but there he ran into the Capitals and thereby became involved in Alexander winning the first and so far only Stanley Cup.

Subsequently, the athletes shared the ice during Fleury’s performances for both Chicago and Minnesota – a team considered one of the most convenient for Ovechkin. So far, he has 19 goals in 23 games against the Wild, the most he has scored against any other team (0.83 per game average). And this was to some extent symbolic, because he also scored more against Marc-Andre than any other goalkeeper – as many as 40 times. By the way, since the expansion of the NHL in 1967, only Brett Hull, who upset Tim Schevelde the same number of times, could boast of this.

However, at first there was no reason to remember their duel. Already in the 11th minute, the hosts' forward Tom Wilson opened the scoring, after which the guests seized the initiative and twice upset Charlie Lindgren. In the second case, the goalkeeper himself was to blame for making a grave mistake. During the power play, he fiddled with the puck behind his own goal and helped Yakov Trenin score a publishing goal. The Russian forward made an interception, after which he elegantly drove around his opponent, who had fallen to his knees, and hit the empty target.

“First I saw what he (Lindgren) had. RT) there is no support from the guys from his team. It was easy to get around. Then I saw that he had lost his stick and the puck right there, and I just couldn’t believe it. … Then I took possession of the puck and, realizing that there was no whistle, went to the net,” the NHL press service quotes Trenin.

So, at the very end of the starting period, “Washington” found itself in the role of catching up and remained in this role almost until the end of the second. And it could have been longer if not for Marat Khusnutdinov. The former SKA forward received two minor fines for playing with his stick high and went to the box. At this moment, Ovechkin reminded himself of himself, realizing his numerical advantage in an unusual manner.

Over the years, fans have become accustomed to Ovechkin’s irresistible touch-and-go shots from the “office,” but lately he’s increasingly pleased with well-calibrated wrist shots that put goalies in a stupor. This is how he marked himself this time too. After receiving a pass from Dylan Strome, Alexander took aim and carefully sent the puck under Fleury's pancake. Hull's long-standing record was broken.

“When you miss so many games, you just try to play short shifts, work hard in every game, every shift, feel the puck. But sometimes it happens that you don’t have the opportunity to score, and in the end you still score one goal and feel much better,” the captain said.

In addition, Ovechkin rose to third place in league history not only in the number of accurate hits in January (136), but also in teams against which he scored 20 or more times in his career. His track record includes 18, the same number as Mike Gartner and Luc Robitaille. Only Marcel Dionne (19) and the same Gretzky (21) have more.

Ovechkin's 871st goal in the NHL regular season helped him not only continue his pursuit of the sniper record, but also restore parity in the match, but the Capitals still could not resolve all the issues in regulation time. Yes, at the beginning of the third period, Travis Dermott tripped Fleury and allowed Martin Fehervary to put the hosts ahead, but Marco Rossi soon restored parity. The additional five minutes did not reveal the strongest, as a result of which the teams had to compete in shootouts. But here the guests were a little luckier.

Dylan Strome, Mats Zuccarello and Pierre-Luc Dubois failed to convert their attempts, while Matt Boldy managed to defeat Lindgren. The Wild forward got close to his opponent and then finished off him with a well-calibrated wrist shot. Ovechkin could have extended the shootout, but he failed to upset Fleury a second time. The Canadian read the Russian’s plan and his shield parried his “shot”.

Perhaps it was on this evening that the long-term duel between Alexander and Marc-Andre ended. This season will be the last for the 40-year-old goalkeeper, who previously announced his decision to hang up his skates. However, he will have a chance to fight his arch-rival again. At the end of March, the Capitals will come to visit the Wild, but will Fleury take his place in the frame, since Philip Gustafsson has been considered the main one for a long time? One way or another, it would be extremely interesting to watch their confrontation again. Especially considering that by this point Ovechkin can get close to Gretzky. Already now from 23 goals separate him from repeating the record.