Ovechkin rewarded for patience, gets 1st goal of season with Capitals

WASHINGTON -- When Alex Ovechkin doesn’t score a goal in his first four games of a season, that usually leads to questions about what’s wrong.

That comes with the territory when you’re the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer.

No one on the Washington Capitals, though, including Ovechkin, seemed too worried that the puck wasn’t going to start going in for him eventually. That too is a product of Ovechkin’s track record for finding a way to score for more than two decades now.

So, when Ovechkin did get his first goal of the season -- and the 898th of his career -- in the Capitals’ 5-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Capital One Arena on Friday, it felt mostly like back to business as usual for the 40-year-old left wing.

“If it was I did not have any chances, it [would be] kind of like, ‘Oh [no],’” Ovechkin said. “But no, the chances were there. Sometimes you just have to be patient, and one goes in. And I hope next game it’s going to be more.”

Ovechkin also had an assist to help the Capitals (4-1-0) extend their winning streak to four games. Ovechkin’s line with center Dylan Strome (two goals, two assists) and Anthony Beauvillier (one assist) accounted for seven points (three goals, four assists).

“I thought tonight, every time it felt like we got a chance, we were getting the rebounds and continuing play,” said Strome, who also didn’t score a goal in the Capitals’ first four games. “I think all four lines had some really good shifts in the [offensive] zone. Some guys got rewarded.”

Now two away from becoming the first player to reach 900 NHL goals, Ovechkin usually doesn’t have to wait long to get rewarded. He’s also used to playing under the microscope that comes with chasing historic numbers.

The spotlight could not have been brighter than when he was pursuing the NHL goals record last season, and he never seemed to let it bother him. Ovechkin tied for third in the NHL with 44 goals in 65 games, including his record-breaking 895th goal on April 6 against the New York Islanders to surpass Wayne Gretzky's total of 894.

He added two more goals before last season ended to head into this one, his 21st in the NHL, with 897 and his sights set firmly on 900.

Ovechkin needed a few games to find his timing, though, after a lower-body injury caused him to miss a week of practice during training camp. Ovechkin equaled his longest goal drought to begin a season by not scoring in Washington’s first four games (also 2012-13 and 2023-24), but he stuck with it. The Capitals going 3-1-0 in their first four games helped.

There were signs the goals would come eventually, with Ovechkin generating 11 shots on goal in those four games. He had three shots on goal and seven shot attempts in Washington’s 3-2 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said he saw no signs that Ovechkin was pressing.

“Not at all. Not in the least bit,” Carbery said. “I hadn’t really met with him about pucks not going in for him because I felt like his line has been playing pretty good, and we’ve been playing pretty good as a team. So, it’s just a matter of time when he’s getting into those spots.”

Ovechkin picked up his third assist of the season by setting up Strome’s goal that gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 17:52 of the first period. After taking a touch pass from Strome on the rush, Ovechkin skated into the right circle and held the puck as if he was going to shoot, causing goalie Filip Gustavsson to hold his position, before passing to a driving Strome for a redirection off his stick blade.

“You just have to look at what happens,” Ovechkin said. “And you can see at first I’m going to take a shot and ‘Stromer’ did a great job to go far post.”

After the teams exchanged goals in the second period, Strome repaid the favor by setting up Ovechkin’s goal 1:19 into the third period that increased Washington’s lead to 3-1. Strome won a face-off against Wild center Ryan Hartman straight back to Ovechkin at the inner rim of the right circle. Ovechkin got the puck off his stick quickly and it sailed past Gustavsson’s blocker before going in off the far post.

“He's been getting chances,” Strome said. “We've had four or five chances in each of the games and just haven't been putting them in the right spots for him to bury them. Luckily off the face-off, it went right to his favorite spot there and he put it home.”

It was Ovechkin’s 21st goal in 26 career games against Minnesota. His rate of 0.81 goals per game against the Wild is his highest against any team. With his goal and assist Friday, Ovechkin has 40 points (21 goals, 19 assists) against the Wild for a rate of 1.54 point per game that is also his highest against any opponent.

“He’s a tough guy to contain, obviously,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “He had the nice goal on the face-off. He’s a guy you have to be aware of. We just didn’t execute in that situation.”

With Ovechkin and Strome breaking out offensively, it was the Capitals' most complete effort of the young season. They outshot the Wild 45-14 and controlled play for most of the night. Washington’s power play, which was 1-for-11 entering the night, went 1-for-5 and its penalty kill held Minnesota’s previously scorching power play (10-for-21 entering the game) without a goal in two opportunities.

Ovechkin didn’t sound satisfied, though.

“I think we still have to improve ourselves,” he said. “Obviously, the power play has to make some adjustments, but we’re working on it. This is our fifth game, and sometimes you just need a couple games to feel the puck, to feel the rhythm.”