Ovechkin continues to shine with 1st playoff OT goal for Capitals in Game 1 win

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin waited 20 NHL seasons and until the 152nd Stanley Cup Playoff game of his career to do something he hadn’t before and rescue the Washington Capitals from a postseason meltdown.

Ovechkin scored 2:26 into overtime to give the Capitals a 3-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Monday.

Although Ovechkin is the NHL’s all-time leader in regular-season goals with 897 -- breaking Wayne Gretzky’s previous League record of 894 on April 6 -- including a League-record 27 in overtime, the 39-year-old left wing had never previously scored an overtime goal in the playoffs. It couldn’t have come at a better time for Washington, which let a 2-0 lead slip away in the final 9:28 of the third period.

“A goal is a goal,” Ovechkin said. “And in the playoffs, especially, it doesn’t matter who scores.”

That may be true, but Ovechkin, who had not scored in 44 previous playoff overtime games, came through for the Capitals when they were staring down a deflating loss and the possibility of facing all the pressure in Game 2 of the best-of-7 series at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC). Ovechkin led Washington throughout the night, scoring two goals and getting the primary assist on another.

He also turned back the clock with his physical play with seven of the Capitals’ 42 hits.

“He's a beast,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. “He's a machine. When he's out there creating energy for our team, scoring, he does it all. He does everything. That's what a leader does.”

It was a different story a year ago, when the Capitals were swept by the New York Rangers in the first round and Ovechkin was held without a point in a playoff series for the first time in his career. Ovechkin downplayed the motivation that disappointment might be for him heading into this series, but Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said on Saturday that going without a point against the Rangers last season “bothered him” and that Ovechkin was “very driven” to have success in these playoffs.

Ovechkin’s inspired performance Monday seemed to prove Carbery right.

“Made a couple of big plays for us tonight,” Carbery said. “Was physical, set the tone. First period, he was leading the charge and dragging us into the fight.”

The Capitals played a strong first period but had nothing to show for it until Ovechkin’s power-play goal at 18:34 gave them a 1-0 lead. After taking a cross-ice pass from Wilson, Ovechkin whipped a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that went between the legs of Canadiens defenseman David Savard and sailed into the net past goalie Sam Montembeault’s blocker.

The goal was reminiscent of Ovechkin’s record-breaking 895th goal on April 6 against the New York Islanders, which resulted from a similar Wilson pass and Ovechkin wrist shot.

“Obviously, it looked pretty familiar,” Wilson said. “I had so much time with the puck. I looked up and he got into that ice, that same ice that's pretty dangerous if I can get the puck to him. When I see him get some space, you just want to put it on his tape. He can score from anywhere. Heck of a shot.”

Ovechkin also played a role in Anthony Beauvillier’s goal that increased Washington’s lead to 2-0 at 12:09 of the second period. After taking a drop pass from Dylan Strome, Ovechkin threw the puck toward the net from the left point. Montembeault stopped Beauvillier’s deflection of Ovechkin’s shot, but Beauvillier knocked in the rebound.

Ovechkin continued to be a presence with three more hits in the second period, including one that knocked Canadiens forward Cole Caufield backward off his skates in the left corner.

“I think everybody was hitting today,” Ovechkin said. “… All our guys get involved in the physical game.”

But all Washington’s good work in the first two periods unraveled in the second half of the third. Caufield started Montreal’s comeback with a power-play goal at 10:32.

The Capitals had played well up to that point in front of goalie Logan Thompson, who returned after missing the final seven regular-season games with an upper-body injury. But they fell back on their heels after Caufield’s goal and Nick Suzuki tied it for the Canadiens off a scramble in front at 15:45.

Reeling after the third period, the Capitals regrouped in their locker room during the intermission and came out strong in overtime. Ovechkin scored the winning goal on his second shift of the sudden death period.

After Strome won the left circle face-off, Montembeault stopped Beauvillier’s initial shot, but Beauvillier tracked down the rebound below the goal line to the left of the net and lifted a pass over the stick of defenseman Kaiden Guhle to Ovechkin in front.

The puck was still a couple inches off the ice when Ovechkin swatted it in off his stick blade to set off the celebration.

“I think it was a great play by ‘Stromer’ to win the face-off,” said Ovechkin, who tied for third in the NHL with 44 goals in the regular season despite missing 16 games with a fractured left fibula. “It was kind of a little scrum, and ‘Beauvi’ have a first shot and then he tried to find me out there and good things happen when you go to the net.”

It was Ovechkin's 74th career playoff goal, tying Joe Pavelski for 13th in NHL history and adding to his legacy with Washington, which is trying to win its first playoff series since Ovechkin led it to the Stanley Cup in 2018.

“He doesn’t need much time and space,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “He scores two big goals tonight. That’s kind of what he does.”