With just 6 minutes and 41 seconds left in the game, Alexander Ovechkin scored the winning goal bringing the Washington Capitals triumph! This gliding gladiator exceeded his previous 52 goals. This is the tenth game this season in which he has scored more than one goal. This kind of performance earned him the Hart Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson award. He was named the League Most Valuable Player and the Player’s Choice for the Most Outstanding Player. These are two of the most sought after awards of the National Hockey League.
Players like Ovechkin have brought the Washington Capitals to the playoffs over and over throughout their history. Their beginnings were somewhat rocky, not having a single playoff game from the 1974-1975 season, when they first joined the National Hockey League, until 1983. However, staffing changes and playing changes led to a streak during which they made it to the playoffs for 14 years in a row.
At their peak in 1998, they made their only Stanley Cup appearance. In 1998, Adam Oates, Phil Housley, and Dale Hunter each scored their 1,000th point. That was the first time that three players from the same team had accomplished this feat during the same season.
In 2008, 10 years later, they were in the playoffs again, thanks to such players as Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Bradley, Donald Brashear, Shaone Morrisonn, Brett Johnson, and the rest. Bruce Boudreau will stay on as coach. Perhaps this year will see them go to the playoffs once again.
