Ovechkin OT goal in Game 1 for Capitals stirs memories of Beliveau

A brilliant captain takes roughly forever to score the first Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goal of his career and in so doing he dramatically breaks the hearts of his opponent's supporters.

Montreal Canadiens fans, at least those with long memories, have now lived both sides of this equation.

Alex Ovechkin's goal 2:26 into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win against the visiting Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Monday. It was the Capitals captain's first OT goal in his 152nd NHL postseason game, the 46th that went into overtime.

Game 2 is at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC). It will be 56 years ago Thursday when late Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau scored the only OT goal of his illustrious career, beating Boston Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers at 11:28 of the second extra period.

Montreal Star reporting on the Canadiens' 1969 elimination of the Boston Bruins, Jean Beliveau scoring the winner in double overtime.

The winner, coming in Beliveau's 138th playoff game and 23rd in overtime, gave Montreal a 2-1 victory in Game 6 of the 1969 Semifinals to eliminate the Bruins, pushing the Canadiens into the Stanley Cup Final that they'd win in a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues. The championship would be the 16th of the Canadiens' 23 since the League was founded Nov. 26, 1917, and the ninth of 10 that Beliveau would win as a player; his last would come in 1971, his final NHL season.

Ovechkin's overtime goal stung Montreal in that the Canadiens had forged a third-period rally to tie the game 2-2 and send it beyond 60 minutes, but it was a much sharper pain felt by Bruins fans in 1969. Beliveau's elimination goal marked the 10th consecutive series, dating to 1946, that the Canadiens bounced Boston in a playoff round.

The Bruins were hardly done with their Montreal misery. The Canadiens would beat them another eight straight times in the postseason before Boston would finally turn the tables, winning a five-game 1988 Adams Division Final.

Coverage of the Canadiens' 1969 elimination of the Boston Bruins, published by the Fredericton (New Brunswick) Daily Gleaner.

Beliveau hadn't scored even a game-clinching playoff goal, much less one in overtime, through his 22 extra-time games. He seemed headed for No. 23 that April 24 at Boston Garden until Claude Provost, the Canadiens' workhorse checking forward, wrestled the puck away from Bruins defenseman Don Awrey.

"I thought we'd lost possession," Beliveau would later tell reporters amid a celebration in Montreal's dressing room. "I turned back ready to head for our own end and then I saw 'Joe' (his nickname for Provost) come up with the puck.

"It was a perfect pass from that old guy over there," he joked, nodding in the direction of Provost, at 35 two years his junior. "I gave a little yell and the puck was there. I had no time to think or make a fancy shot. I just let it go, and it went in."

Jean Beliveau in a late 1950s team photo, and in an early 1990s Canadiens portrait with 10 miniature Stanley Cup trophies symbolizing his career winnings as a player. Beliveau would add seven more as a senior vice-president of the team between 1973-93.

Beliveau's quick snap, the Canadiens' 47th shot of the game, eluded Cheevers. That goal, and Rogie Vachon's 50 saves, left the Bruins and their fans empty-handed.

An Associated Press wire photo of the goal shows Beliveau wheeling away from the net hollering with joy, stick raised. Linemate John Ferguson is equally happy in the background, Awrey bearhugging Provost on the ice with dejected Cheevers looking down, his team's season over.

"Yes, I remember that goal. It's easier to remember when you score only one," Beliveau said in April 2011, the Canadiens then headed into the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Boston that the Bruins would win on their way to a Stanley Cup victory.

The series went to overtime in Game 7, Nathan Horton winning it at 5:43 of the first extra period at Boston's TD Garden. That dandy against was played about a month before the 40th anniversary of Beliveau's final NHL game.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presents the 2018 Conn Smythe Trophy to Alex Ovechkin as MVP of the postseason; NHL president Clarence Campbell presents the inaugural 1965 Conn Smythe to Jean Beliveau, Canadiens' J.C. Tremblay (l). and Terry Harper in the background.

He held then, and still does today, the League record for the fastest winning goal scored in regulation time of a playoff game: 14 seconds against the Chicago Black Hawks in a 4-0 Game 7 victory in the 1965 Stanley Cup Final.

Beliveau won the inaugural Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of that postseason, Ovechkin winning it in 2018 for his role in the Capitals' Stanley Cup win.

And Beliveau still shares two Canadiens postseason records: winning goals in one season (four); and in one series (three, done twice).

"Le Gros Bill," as the Canadiens legend was nicknamed, remains atop Monreal's all-time playoff lists for points (176) and power-play goals (26), and no time soon will he be toppled from those pedestals.

Jean Beliveau's name as it was tapped into the Stanley Cup 10 times as a player, and his Bell Centre aisle seat, upholstered with his No. 4, days after his death Dec. 2, 2014.

His 79 playoff goals rank him second in Canadiens history behind the 82 of Maurice "Rocket" Richard and his 97 assists trail only the 109 of defenseman Larry Robinson.

But you'll find the graceful Hockey Hall of Fame center down the Canadiens list of overtime goals scored, behind the less famous names of Yvon Lambert, Russ Courtnall, Alex Galchenyuk and others.

"I suppose my playoff record is pretty good," Beliveau said in understatement. "I think I'm still up there a bit. I always enjoyed the playoffs. Not only the players, but management and the fans are very nervous."

By the look of Game 1 on Monday, the Capitals and Canadiens -- and their almost-can't-bear-to-look fans -- might be in for a little more nail-biting fun before the series is done.

Top photo: Jean Beliveau in a late 1960s portrait taken at the Montreal Forum; Alex Ovechkin reacts to his Game 1 overtime goal against the Canadiens.