Alexander Ovechkin: “I’m Not Thinking About 60 Goals”

Alexander Ovechkin scored twice last night against the LA Kings. The Russian international added 41st and 42nd goal of the season to his account, and if he continues with the same pace, he might even reach the 60-goal mark at the end of the season.

“Do you stop to think about reaching 60?” one of the reporters asked Ovi in the locker room after the game last night.

The Russian just smiled and shook his head, saying a simple “No,” before receiving another question.

Though, he did have that smile on his face for a couple of seconds.

Ovi is tremendous this season, and he is getting the maximum out of the Capitals at the moment. The championship hangover is still present, but we expect for the champs to wake up very soon and start providing better results. Otherwise, there won’t be much to hope in the playoffs.

Against the Kings, both goals he netted were from his usual spot, the left faceoff circle. And both of them were during the power play. The first opened the game, and along with Brett Connolly’s shocker which came only 20 seconds later, it pretty much decided the final outcome.

The statistics say that 24 of his 42 goals during this campaign came from his favorite spot.

The leader on the scoring list added another with 5:27 into the second period, for 3-0, reaching his 10th game of the season with two or more scores.

He was very pleased with the fact that his Caps used both power play situations on the ice.

“Obviously, 2 for 2 is a pretty good result,” said Ovechkin. The Russian is very productive in these moments and with today’s two he has 13 power play goals since the opening night.

The Kings tried to come back and eventually did score two goals, but there wasn’t enough time for them to do anything more, as the latter one came just 25 seconds before the buzzer. Capitals managed to win at the Staples Center for the first time since December 2005 and snap a winless skid which lasted for 8 matches.

Capitals (33-20-7) are second in the Metropolitan Division. They are chasing the New York Islanders for the top spot in there, and have solid chances to reach the great rival. Currently, the boys from Washington have 73 points, three fewer than the Islanders.

But what is the problem for the Caps is the fact that they played two games more than the division leaders, meaning that the Islanders have a chance to enlarge their advantage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDjPw5WTTJI

When looking at the Eastern Conference table, we see that the champions are fifth, and that their closest rivals also have one or two games in hand. Maple Leafs are fourth with 75 points, and two matches fewer; Blue Jackets are behind four points with two games to play, Penguins collected 69 points with one game to play, Canadians the same.

In general, the situation in the East is very close and one or two wins could mean a lot in the end. The DC-based team has two more events away from home to finish their six-game road trip.

The next one is probably the most important of the season, as they face Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. They could close the gap between them and the Canadians and gain a momentum which will no doubt boost their morale.

After that, the next stop is in Buffalo, before finally arriving home to face the Rangers.

Ovechkin is, no doubt, the key figure in all this, and if he continues to provide such excellent results, be sure that the Caps will have solid chances to come out with a good result from all this.