Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had arguably his best game of the season to date last night against the New York Islanders. However, it wasn’t enough for his Capitals to capture any points. In a game where the Capitals offense was strong early on, but lackluster through the second and third periods Alex Ovechkin played his best hockey of the season. While he only put up one point in the form of a goal, his all around play was what fans have been expecting of him as captain of the team.
Just a night earlier, when the Capitals took on Southeast Division foe, the Carolina Hurricanes, Ovechkin seemed hesitant to shoot, especially on the power play. It just didn’t seem like the Ovechkin that everyone knew and loved. Although, it wasn’t that bad of an outing with Ovechkin recording two assists and having a plus one rating. So was it really one of Ovechkin’s worst performances of late? I don’t believe so.
With that being said, Saturday night against the struggling Islanders, Ovechkin seemed confident carrying the puck and putting it on net. He had one goal on three shots and gave credit to Islanders netminder, Rick DiPietro, for some of the saves he made throughout the night. His goal was his sixth on the season, and first since the October 29th loss in Vancouver a week earlier.
Ovechkin also showed some leadership qualities that we haven’t seen very often from him. Islanders forward P.A. Parenteau hit Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik from behind into the boards. With Hamrlik slow to get up, Ovechkin persued Parenteau in an attempt to stand up for his fallen teammate. Ovechkin eventually would take a two-minute minor penalty for roughing but this is definitely something that I would like to see him continue to do as the captain of the team.
The Capitals who are now 9-3-0 will take on the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, November 8th at the Verizon Center at 7:00 pm. Be on the lookout for a game preview in the next few days.
Until then, as always, Rock the Red.
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