Ovechkin helped his Canadian friend score a hat-trick! And I found myself on the verge of a great event.

Ovechkin helped his Canadian friend score a hat-trick! And I found myself on the verge of a great event.

Vladimir Laevsky December 1, 2023, 09:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Washington converted a power play for the first time since October, beat Anaheim and Ovi now heads to Las Vegas to celebrate a big anniversary.

For Washington, the game against Anaheim was the second game in a row. Previously, the Caps beat one of the leaders of the NHL season, Los Angeles, in a difficult confrontation. The Capitals broke their losing streak and remained in the playoffs, in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

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Anaheim, on the other hand, lost seven games in a row: only three championship teams were worse than the Ducks.

In fact, the Ducks’ failures continued in the meeting with the Capitals. Already in the second minute, Russian Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov lost the puck in his zone, Anthony Mantha intercepted it, entered the area, evaded goalkeeper John Gibson and opened the scoring of the match. 87 seconds passed!

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Anaheim, however, was not going to give up. Just 22 seconds later, the Ducks tied the score. The Washington defenseman made a terrible mistake when trying to clear the puck in the center of the zone. Defenseman Tristan Luneau, 19, intercepted, approached Darcy Kuemper and threw it: the puck hit Nick Jensen and rebounded towards the Ducks player, who on the second attempt scored his first NHL goal: 1 :1!

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In the eighth minute, Anaheim took the lead! Ducks prospect Leo Karlsson escaped from his zone alone, making spectacular plays on defenders, but Kuemper deflected his shot. Brett Leeson was the first to finish – 2:1!

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In the 15th minute, Anaheim had a rough time on the power play; Immediately afterward, Tom Wilson intercepted the puck, escaped one-on-one and scored in his 700th NHL game.

Video rights belong to NHL Enterprises, LP. You can watch it on the official NHL website.

And that’s not all during the first period!

A minute and a half before the end of the game, the Caps got their second power play attempt. After winning the throw-in, John Carlson touched the puck from the blue line to Alexander Ovechkin, the Russian shot – the Ducks hockey player made a block. However, the puck bounced right to Wilson, who fired the puck into the net from the point!

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“Washington”, North American time, managed to score the first goal on the power play in November: the “capital” scored the fourth goal of the season, playing with a numerical advantage only on the 33rd attempt. And Ovechkin broke a four-game streak without points, the worst of this season. He has 1,498 NHL scoring points.

Just 20 seconds later, the Capitals extended their lead. Rasmus Sandin shot from the blue line and Nic Dowd put his stick on the point. 4:2!

Video rights belong to NHL Enterprises, LP. You can watch it on the official NHL website.

The second half was less hectic. In the 26th minute, Evgeny Kuznetsov became the instigator of a huge skirmish behind the Anaheim goal. Ovechkin drove there to defend his comrade. In the end, Kuzya left young Mason McTavish without a helmet and he was sent to the penalty area for rudeness.

Over two periods, Ovechkin took two shots and received a “-1.”

At the beginning of the third period, the capitals obtained the majority. Ovi missed the puck or made a false shot, but in the end the Anaheim players made an interception and went on a fast break.

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The Ducks did not score and were later ejected. “Five for three”! But Washington had already pleased the fans with mostly goals: they decided to stop.

Midway through the third period, Mantha broke away one-on-one and almost scored a double: he couldn’t beat Gibson.

And in the 52nd minute came the punishment for the wasted chances. Leeson broke the right flank and crossed into the box. Brock McGinn gained position on the Washington defenseman and effectively put the puck in the net, closing the gap – 4:3!

Video rights belong to NHL Enterprises, LP. You can watch it on the official NHL website.

And in the 55th minute, Wilson scored a hat-trick! Ovechkin threw the puck into the box, Tom made a great fight in the middle of the commotion in front of the goal and pushed the puck into the goal – 5:3! Ovechkin scored his second point of the game and the 1,499th of his career!

Video rights belong to NHL Enterprises, LP. You can watch it on the official NHL website.

“Washington also scored a second goal on the power play – it was a blast.

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In the last minute Anaheim managed to reduce the gap to a minimum, but in the end the capital took the game to victory and was able to establish itself in the playoff zone. Ovechkin is approaching an incredible milestone: 1,500 career points. Alexander will be able to celebrate his birthday the day after tomorrow in Paradise, in the same place where he raised the Stanley Cup over his head five and a half years ago.