Recreation by sport, Alex Ovechkin is chipping away at Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goal-scoring report.
Now with 879 profession targets, 16 away from surpassing Gretzky, he’ll look to maintain it going when the Washington Capitals host the Utah Hockey Membership on Sunday afternoon.
Ovechkin has scored in 4 straight video games to convey his season whole to 26, placing him on tempo for 45 targets. Ought to he preserve that tempo, it might be the 14th time in his 20 NHL seasons that he is reached the 40-goal mark. His 0.68 goals-per-game charge this season is the fifth highest of his NHL profession — and he is doing this at 39 years previous.
Washington coach Spencer Carbery believes there’s much more to come back from his captain, who missed 16 video games with a damaged leg from mid-November to late December.
“I feel his greatest hockey is to come back within the season,” Carbery stated. “… In my head, at 39 years previous, lacking that period of time and making an attempt to come back again and get caught up within the Nationwide Hockey League. I feel that is actually, actually laborious, and I noticed a distinction in his particular person sport. I feel he will look even higher popping out of the break.”
The Capitals head into Sunday’s tilt with an opportunity to tie the Winnipeg Jets for first place total within the NHL. They’re coming off a 4-3 win in opposition to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, stretching their level streak to 5 video games (3-0-2).
Sunday would be the closing sport for each groups forward of the league’s pause for the 4 Nations Face-Off, which runs from Wednesday via Feb. 20. The Capitals are certainly one of two groups with none illustration on the event.
“A psychological break is big for us at this level within the yr,” defenseman John Carlson stated. “Guys which can be a bit of banged up and injured, it’s going to assist them too. However principally the best way I take a look at it’s simply the psychological. Form of get away from the day-to-day stuff and are available again re-energized and invigorated to complete the yr sturdy.”
Utah arrives within the nation’s capital seeking to bounce again after a 7-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. It dropped the membership again to the NHL’s model of .500 on the season, the place it has been for many of the marketing campaign.
Regardless of the middling report, Utah is eight factors shy of the second wild-card spot from the Western Convention.
“I appreciated our willpower on offense, I like the best way we competed on offense,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny stated. “I feel we had been too quick on element defensively. All in all, we gave up an excessive amount of on offense for them.”
It has been a battle offensively this season for ahead Lawson Crouse, who sits at 12 factors (eight targets, 4 assists) via 54 video games. He is on tempo for simply 12 targets after surpassing 20 in every of the previous three seasons.
The Utah alternate captain was scratched Tuesday in opposition to the Flyers earlier than re-entering the lineup Thursday in opposition to the Columbus Blue Jackets. He scored simply his second aim up to now 15 video games.
“I maintain myself to a better stage and customary,” Crouse stated of being scratched. “… Clearly, it is unlucky however I’ve acquired to play higher. It is on me.”
–Subject Stage Media
