"Drafted first and second overall in the 2004 NHL Draft. Won the Calder and Hart Trophy. Helped lead their teams to Stanley Cup Champions. From the former USSR."
A seemingly long 14 years ago, Alexander Ovechkin was drafted by the Washington Capitals. 1st overall. Second overall, right behind him, was another Russian, Evgeni Malkin. Drafted by Pittsburgh.
Both made an impact, although Ovie had to wait a while before finally sipping the champagne. Alex won the Calder Trophy as Rookie Of The Year in 2005/06 (The previous year had been wiped out due to a work stoppage). Malkin wasn't in the NHL yet. But he recorded 47 points in 46 games with the Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian League. His NHL time came next year.
He won Rookie Of The Year. Soon, he had over 100 points back-to-back years (2007/08 and 2008/9). But he one-upped Ovie. Evgeni was on the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
That seemed to give Malkin the edge. He won another scoring championship in 2011/2012, and nearly a third this past season (2017/18). Ovechkin had to absorb playoff losses to Pittsburgh in 2009, 2016 and 2017. Malkin and the Pens didn't just stop there. They went on to win all in each of those seasons.
Alexander's time seemed never to come. His teams got better, no doubt. Could they get over the hump? Didn't seem to. They didn't even make it out of the first round in 2010 (They lost to Montreal, who then shocked Pittsburgh). Washington beat New York in the first round the next season, only to be swept by Tampa Bay. That seemed to be the furthest they ever got. They added a great goalie in Brandon Holtby that season, and he quickly became a postseason go-to puck stopper. Look at his numbers: 7-6, 1.95 GAA and .935 S% in the 2011/12 playoffs. Not enough. The Capitals did the smart thing and hung on to him. But it seemed no matter how good Ovie and Holtby did, Washington found a way to lose.
They blew a 3-1 lead against New York in 2014/15, although Brandon led the postseason in S% .944 and GAA, 1.71. How about Ovie? He posted 21 points in just 14 games in 2008/09, and usually put up good numbers in the playoffs, although he seemed unable to match his regular season production.
For instance, in 2014/15, it was Alexander with 53 goals in the regular season, but with only 5 in 14 playoff games. That's how many he'd score the next two postseasons. The Capitals would make it out of the first round in each of the next four playoff years, but ran into a buzz-saw: Malkin and the Pens!
It was six games in 2015/16, and then even closer the next year. Washington was down 3-1 in the series, and clawed back to a game seven at home. Surely, the time was right to pick up their first series win over Pittsburgh since 1994, but it wasn't to be. Marc-Andre Fleury did 'em in with a shutout, right there at the Verizon Centre. And after edging Ottawa in seven and Nashville in six, the Pens had their third Stanley Cup in nine seasons.
How many did Washington have? They'd been in the league since 1974/75. They had none. Just one finals appearance in 1997/98, but they didn't even beat Pittsburgh to get there? What would it take?
Well, for starters, good coaching. They had that in Barry Trotz (He'd been excellent with Nashville prior to coming to Washington). Goaltending, they certainly had that in Bradon Holtby, who'd won 48 games one season to set an NHL record. Did they need more from Ovechkin?
Certainly they needed him in the second round of the 2017/18 playoffs. The Washington Capitals came back from 2-0 down to win four straight vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh needed six games themselves to beat their state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers. Both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were looking to take the Pens to a third Stanley Cup. What did Washington have to say about this?
They said, "No way!"
It took six close games, but Washington pulled it off, winning game six right there in Pittsburgh (OT was required). But for all that, the Caps were merely in the Conference Finals. A tough seven-game series with the Tampa Bay Lightning awaited them. Washington managed to steal game seven in Tampa. On to the finals.
A familiar foe was in net on the opposition. The opposition was an expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, in their first season of operation. The familiar foe was goalie Mark-Andre Fleury. Would this be a problem? Hmmm. An old teammate, Nate Schmidt, was also on the Knights. Still...And expansion team? No problem.
Ovie only had one assist in the first game, played on enemy ice. But it came on a goal that put the visitors up 4-3. Amazingly, the expansion team wasn't concerned. They put two pucks by Holtby to take the lead, then rammed another into the empty net to seal the deal.
Okay. Game two was a must. And Washington squeaked by, 3-2. Alex got his first ever Stanley Cup finals goal in the second. Holtby was pepped with 39 shots on goal, but this game was what he needed.
Indeed, back at Washington for games three and four, the home team played confident. Like they weren't going to let this great chance go for not. They won game three only 3-1, but really put it to the new team the next contest, winning it 6-2.
Washington didn't stop there.They'd brought Las Vegas down to earth with a thud! So in game five Ovie put his team up 2-1 with a goal in the second. The Golden Knight came back with two goals before the period ended. Hmmm. Washington came out and played a great third period. Two goals for, none against. The jinx was over!
Ovechkin had 15 goals in 24 postseason games, nabbing him the Conn Smythe award as the playoffs Most Valuable Player. That's one award that Evgeni Malkin had won nine years earlier. The Caps had the award they'd all been chasing. Few, if anyone, had longed for this more than Ovie. He was behind, you see, 3-0 in Cups won to his fellow Russian Malkin.
References
“Official Site of the National Hockey League” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 03 July. 2018. <https://www.nhl.com>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 03 July. 2018.
A seemingly long 14 years ago, Alexander Ovechkin was drafted by the Washington Capitals. 1st overall. Second overall, right behind him, was another Russian, Evgeni Malkin. Drafted by Pittsburgh.
Both made an impact, although Ovie had to wait a while before finally sipping the champagne. Alex won the Calder Trophy as Rookie Of The Year in 2005/06 (The previous year had been wiped out due to a work stoppage). Malkin wasn't in the NHL yet. But he recorded 47 points in 46 games with the Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian League. His NHL time came next year.
He won Rookie Of The Year. Soon, he had over 100 points back-to-back years (2007/08 and 2008/9). But he one-upped Ovie. Evgeni was on the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
That seemed to give Malkin the edge. He won another scoring championship in 2011/2012, and nearly a third this past season (2017/18). Ovechkin had to absorb playoff losses to Pittsburgh in 2009, 2016 and 2017. Malkin and the Pens didn't just stop there. They went on to win all in each of those seasons.
Alexander's time seemed never to come. His teams got better, no doubt. Could they get over the hump? Didn't seem to. They didn't even make it out of the first round in 2010 (They lost to Montreal, who then shocked Pittsburgh). Washington beat New York in the first round the next season, only to be swept by Tampa Bay. That seemed to be the furthest they ever got. They added a great goalie in Brandon Holtby that season, and he quickly became a postseason go-to puck stopper. Look at his numbers: 7-6, 1.95 GAA and .935 S% in the 2011/12 playoffs. Not enough. The Capitals did the smart thing and hung on to him. But it seemed no matter how good Ovie and Holtby did, Washington found a way to lose.
They blew a 3-1 lead against New York in 2014/15, although Brandon led the postseason in S% .944 and GAA, 1.71. How about Ovie? He posted 21 points in just 14 games in 2008/09, and usually put up good numbers in the playoffs, although he seemed unable to match his regular season production.
For instance, in 2014/15, it was Alexander with 53 goals in the regular season, but with only 5 in 14 playoff games. That's how many he'd score the next two postseasons. The Capitals would make it out of the first round in each of the next four playoff years, but ran into a buzz-saw: Malkin and the Pens!
It was six games in 2015/16, and then even closer the next year. Washington was down 3-1 in the series, and clawed back to a game seven at home. Surely, the time was right to pick up their first series win over Pittsburgh since 1994, but it wasn't to be. Marc-Andre Fleury did 'em in with a shutout, right there at the Verizon Centre. And after edging Ottawa in seven and Nashville in six, the Pens had their third Stanley Cup in nine seasons.
How many did Washington have? They'd been in the league since 1974/75. They had none. Just one finals appearance in 1997/98, but they didn't even beat Pittsburgh to get there? What would it take?
Well, for starters, good coaching. They had that in Barry Trotz (He'd been excellent with Nashville prior to coming to Washington). Goaltending, they certainly had that in Bradon Holtby, who'd won 48 games one season to set an NHL record. Did they need more from Ovechkin?
Certainly they needed him in the second round of the 2017/18 playoffs. The Washington Capitals came back from 2-0 down to win four straight vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh needed six games themselves to beat their state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers. Both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were looking to take the Pens to a third Stanley Cup. What did Washington have to say about this?
They said, "No way!"
It took six close games, but Washington pulled it off, winning game six right there in Pittsburgh (OT was required). But for all that, the Caps were merely in the Conference Finals. A tough seven-game series with the Tampa Bay Lightning awaited them. Washington managed to steal game seven in Tampa. On to the finals.
A familiar foe was in net on the opposition. The opposition was an expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, in their first season of operation. The familiar foe was goalie Mark-Andre Fleury. Would this be a problem? Hmmm. An old teammate, Nate Schmidt, was also on the Knights. Still...And expansion team? No problem.
Ovie only had one assist in the first game, played on enemy ice. But it came on a goal that put the visitors up 4-3. Amazingly, the expansion team wasn't concerned. They put two pucks by Holtby to take the lead, then rammed another into the empty net to seal the deal.
Okay. Game two was a must. And Washington squeaked by, 3-2. Alex got his first ever Stanley Cup finals goal in the second. Holtby was pepped with 39 shots on goal, but this game was what he needed.
Indeed, back at Washington for games three and four, the home team played confident. Like they weren't going to let this great chance go for not. They won game three only 3-1, but really put it to the new team the next contest, winning it 6-2.
Washington didn't stop there.They'd brought Las Vegas down to earth with a thud! So in game five Ovie put his team up 2-1 with a goal in the second. The Golden Knight came back with two goals before the period ended. Hmmm. Washington came out and played a great third period. Two goals for, none against. The jinx was over!
Ovechkin had 15 goals in 24 postseason games, nabbing him the Conn Smythe award as the playoffs Most Valuable Player. That's one award that Evgeni Malkin had won nine years earlier. The Caps had the award they'd all been chasing. Few, if anyone, had longed for this more than Ovie. He was behind, you see, 3-0 in Cups won to his fellow Russian Malkin.
References
“Official Site of the National Hockey League” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 03 July. 2018. <https://www.nhl.com>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 03 July. 2018.
