On Sunday, the Washington Capitals came back to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in their traditional Super Bowl Sunday matchup in Washington, D.C.
During the game, Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin joined greats Wayne Gretzky and Mike Gartner as the only three players in NHL history to ever score 30 goals or more in their first 11 seasons.
“It’s not surprising, and he’s going to probably do it another time or two before he’s done,” coach Barry Trotz said regarding the achievement. “Consistency, that’s a part of greatness.”
Ovechkin deflected Karl Alzner’s point shot with his stick in front of Flyers goalkeeper Steve Mason to score his 30th in his 49th game of the season. The goal tied the score 1-1 at 15:56 in the second period after a rough start to the game for the Capitals.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.
“You just have to do what you have to do,” Ovechkin said. “It was not pretty goal, but it was a really important goal for us. I’ll take it.”
The Capitals currently lead the NHL with their current record, despite a 0-for-17 power-play drought. They were for 0-for-2 in terms of power plays on Sunday, although they also managed to kill all five Flyers power plays.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby also had a good night, with 33 total saves, eight of which came during the penalty kill. The Capitals also got two goals from defensemen. Dmitry Orlov scored his fifth of the season just 1:09 after Ovechkin’s, and Matt Niskanen also scored at 5:24 in the third period to put them up 3-2. Niskanen went end to end, skating through Philadelphia defenders Michael Del Zotto and Shayne Gostisbehere before beating Mason short side.
Mason had 27 saves during the game.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 10: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals shoots and scores his 500th career NHL goal in the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Verizon Center on January 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty
To add insult to injury, Sean McVay announced on Monday that the Los Angeles Rams…
The Panthers named Andy Dalton as their new starting quarterback earlier this week, relieving 2023…
Once known as the worst clutch quarterback in the NFL, Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins…
On Tuesday, the Miami Dolphins placed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve with a concussion.…
The Chicago Bears learned the hard way last week that not all wins are pretty.…
Quarterback Daniel Jones has had to field multiple questions about negative Giants fans last week.…