Ovechkin’s club suffered its biggest defeat in five years. Why didn’t the Russian hockey player score again?

The Washington Capitals, captained by Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin, lost devastatingly to the Arizona Coyotes in a regular season match of the National Hockey League (NHL). Results are available on the league website.

The meeting took place on the night of December 5 and ended in the defeat of the capital team with a score of 0:6. Logan Cooley (9th minute), Michael Carcone (11th minute), Nick Schmaltz (15th, 18th minute), Jason Zucker (19th minute) and Nick Bjugstad (37th minute) scored goals for the Coyotes. I). For the Capitals, the defeat was their biggest in five years: in October 2018, they lost by the same score to the New Jersey Devils.

At the same time, Washington allowed five of six goals in the first period and repeated the worst record in terms of goals conceded during one twenty-minute period in the last 32 years. The last time a team allowed more goals in one period was in 1991 in a match with Calgary, when they scored six goals.

Alexander Ovechkin extended his goalless streak

For the seventh match in a row, Ovechkin did not score effectively: the last time the Russian scored was on November 19 in a match with the Columbus Blue Jackets (4:3). The hockey player is demonstrating such a series for the first time since the spring of 2017. In total, Ovechkin has five goals and nine assists in 21 matches this season.

In total, Ovechkin still has 827 goals in the NHL regular championships throughout his career. According to this indicator, the Capitals captain ranks second, behind only Canadian Wayne Gretzky, who has 894 goals. Ovechkin remains 67 goals shy of the Canadian record.

ESPN, which published a forecast before the start of the season according to which Ovechkin was expected to score his 850th career goal on January 18, 2024 in a meeting with the St. Louis Blues, has revised its position. Journalists drew attention to the weakest level of performance in his career.

Experts named the reason for the failures of Washington and Ovechkin

Journalist for the Canadian publication TSN Jamie McLennan called the reason for the failures in the psychological pressure exerted on the team due to Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky’s record. In his opinion, Ovechkin could tarnish his legacy if he works only for his own results.

Two-time Olympic champion Alexander Kozhevnikov also drew attention to the strong psychological pressure that affects the performance of the team and their leader. He believed that Washington was experiencing a recession, which the coaching staff could get rid of.

At the same time, Ovechkin’s teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov refused to believe that the pursuit of Gretzky’s record affects the team’s performance. He emphasized that Washington works for a team result and thinks about victories. According to the forward, the media pays too much attention to the record, which is why it is constantly in the news. Kuznetsov expressed confidence that Ovechkin will be able to surpass Gretzky.

Washington is ninth in the NHL Eastern Conference with 26 points in 22 games. The New York Rangers are in the lead with 37 points in 23 meetings. In the next match, the capital team will play at home against the Dallas Stars. The meeting will take place on the night of December 8th.