Alex Ovechkin scoring the game-winning goal to give the Nashville Predators another loss and keep his Washington Capitals rolling was no surprise to those who’ve seen him play for so many years.
“You knew it was coming,” said Predators coach Andrew Brunette, who played his last seven seasons as a player while Ovechkin was starting his NHL career.
“You’re on the bench and I guess I’ve seen him too many times. I’ve played against him, I’ve coached against him, I’ve watched him and he just finds that and when it’s on his stick it’s gone.
“That’s a big-time shot from obviously arguably the greatest goal-scorer of all time.”
Ovechkin is now just six goals away from breaking Jaromir Jagr’s record for the most career game-winning goals. His 130th helped the Capitals improve to a 9-3-0 record this season, while it handed the Predators their ninth loss in 13 games.
“It (stinks) that he scored against us tonight and got the game-winner, but a guy that is still producing at this age is impressive,” said Predators forward Steven Stamkos, who spent his first 16 years in the league with Tampa Bay. “To keep doing it at this age is very impressive.”
Ovechkin has scored six goals in his last five games, bringing his career total to 861 goals. He’s now just 34 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career record, which for many years seemed unbeatable.
The Capitals’ longtime captain also became just the third player to score in five or more consecutive games at age 39 or older, following Johnny Bucyk in 1974 and Brett Hull in 2003.
“He’s going to go down as the guy with the most goals ever at some point here,” Stamkos said. “He’s just a generational goal scorer and a guy that I’ve always looked up to in terms of how he scores goals. It’s the hardest thing to do in the NHL is score and he’s found a way to do it better than — soon — anyone ever.”
Ovechkin also kept his streak alive of scoring in every game the Capitals wear their black “Screaming Eagle” jerseys. This game marked the first time this season the team wore those jerseys, and Ovechkin is now 8-for-8 in this uniform.
“I don’t know the stats, but I love this jersey,” Ovechkin said. “Fans love it, so it’s pretty cool.”
Earlier in the game, Ovechkin set up Aliaksei Protas for a goal. He now has eight goals and eight assists this season.
“I’m always having fun,” Ovechkin said. “But when you’re winning games, when you’re producing opportunities to have a chance to score goals, it’s always fun to play.”
