So far this season, the Montreal Canadiens have given up 41 goals, the third most in the league. In their last four games, they’ve had to fetch the puck out of their own net 20 times.
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Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin has put up seven points in eight games including four goals. From a production standpoint, the Great Eight is already the most lethal Russian player to skate on NHL ice, with 1557 points in 1434 games, he averages 1.09 point per game and 0.60 goal per game.
That’s not the title Ovie is chasing however, what he wants to be is the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. After scoring twice in the Capitals 5-3 win over the New York Rangers last night, he has 857 goals to his name, second only to Wayne Gretzky who holds the record with 894 goals. The Great One got them over 1487 games, 53 more matches than Ovechkin.
The face of the Capitals’ franchise needs 38 games to break Gretzky’s record and he still has one more year left on his contract. Could he score that many goals this season? It’s not out of the realm of possibilities. Last season he lit the lamp 31 times which by his standards, was an off year.
Could he take advantage of the Canadiens’ visit to pad up his total? It wouldn’t be shocking, after all Montreal come to town with two goalies who are struggling of late. Samuel Montembeault has a 3.67 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage while Cayden Primeau’s GAA stands at 4.02 and his SP is at .871.
Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Cayden Primeau
Stuck in a goaltending threesome last season, Montembeault and Primeau were preferred to veteran netminder Jake Allen who was traded to New Jersey. His departure left Montembeault as the number one goaltender, a role he had yet to play in the NHL since being drafted by the Florida Panthers back in 2015 with the 77th overall pick. The Becancour native is under contract with the Habs for two more season while backup Primeau who was a very late pick for Montreal at the 2017 draft (199th overall) is in a contract year and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
So far, Ovechkin has played 58 games in his career against the Canadiens, putting up 67 points including 38 goals. Less than two years ago, as the Capitals destroyed the Habs 9-2 to close out 2022, the captain scored a hat trick but it was on Jake Allen who was kept in net until the bitter end.
In the last game between the two sides in February, Ovechkin was kept off the goal column by the same Allen in a 4-3 win for the Caps. Earlier in the same month, he scored a single goal against Montembeault in a 5-2 defeat and in the first meeting of the season, he was blanked (although he did have an assist) by Allen in a 3-2 Canadiens OT win.
It will be interesting to see who Martin St-Louis gives the nod to tomorrow as both goalies were shaky in last night’s defeat, but whoever it is, they’ll need a good dose of confidence to successfully stand in the Great Eight’s way as he chases history. Whether he breaks the record or not though, when he hangs them up, Ovechkin’s skills on the ice will be missed, but he may well be preparing someone to take over.
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