WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored to hand the Nashville Predators another loss and keep his Washington Capitals going. For people on the other side who have seen him many times over the years, this was no surprise.
“You knew it was coming,” said Predators coach Andrew Brunette, whose final seven seasons as a player overlapped with Ovechkin’s first seven in the NHL. “You're sitting on the bench and I think I've seen him too many times. I've played against him, I've practiced against him, I've watched him and he just finds it and when it's on his racket it's gone.
“It’s a great shot from probably the best goalscorer of all time.”
Ovechkin is now six away from breaking Jaromir Jagr's record for most game-winning goals in a career. His 130th goal helped the Capitals improve to 9-3-0 on the season and 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 who is still performing at that age is impressive,” said Predators forward Steven Stamkos, who spent his first 16 years in the league Tampa Bay played. “It’s very impressive to continue to do it at this age.”
Ovechkin has scored six goals in his last five games, bringing his total to 861 for his career. He's just 34 years away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's career mark, which seemed aloof for decades.
Washington's longtime captain also became just the third player age 39 or older to score in five or more consecutive games, joining Johnny Bucyk in 1974 and Brett Hull in 2003.
“At some point he will go down in history as the guy with the most goals here,” said Stamkos. “He’s just a goalscorer of a generation and a guy I’ve always looked up to in terms of the way he scores goals. The hardest thing in the NHL is scoring, and he’s found a way to do it better than anyone soon.”
Ovechkin also continued his winning streak, scoring in every game in which the Capitals wear their black “Screaming Eagle” jersey, this time for the first time in their 50th season. The player known as the “Great Eight” 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.”
Ovechkin also assisted Aliaksei Protas early in the game, scoring eight goals and eight assists.
“I always have fun,” Ovechkin said. “But when you win games, when you create opportunities to score goals, it’s always fun to play.”