Capitals 5, Canucks 1: Too much Alex Ovechkin, too little team defense

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The plan was to deny Alex Ovechkin and save the praise for another day.

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good try.

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One of the game’s greatest snipers, who scored two goals in seven minutes of Tuesday’s first period, gave the Vancouver Canucks, and to everyone who watched his incredible anticipation and rocket release, the chance he still had. It reminded us that we are the ones who make a deadly difference.

Not only did Ovechkin lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-1 win, but his two goals also saw the Russian winger pass Wayne Gretzky for a career-high 403 goals in the National Hockey League. did.

“With a guy like Alex, it makes no difference,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said before pack-dropping Ovechkin’s effectiveness in every arena. Come on, you can play him on the moon and he will try his best and do well.

“It should come as no surprise that this[career road goal]is another record or milestone he’s trying to achieve. I hope he does it[on Thursday]in Seattle.”

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next game

Thursday

Florida Panthers vs. Vancouver Canucks

7 pm, Rogers Arena. tv set: sports net. wireless: AM650

With 13 goals in 23 appearances, Ovechkin is on pace for 44 goals and his 793 goals are eight behind Gordy Howe, who are second all-time in the league behind Gretzky’s 894.

Will Ovechkin surpass Gretzky again?

“I’m a really big fan of Alex and I think he’ll do it because he’s determined to be there to do it,” added Boudreau, who guided Ovechkin in Washington. “If he can stay healthy, I think he will.”

Here’s what we learned as the Canucks went on a three-game winning streak, going 9-11-3.

Ovechkin is double trouble

There’s a read, then there’s a release.

First, Quinn Hughes blocked an ejection attempt from behind the net, quickly turning the chance on Spencer Martin’s shortside. Then his sweet shooter set up shop in his spot and unleashed a patented one-timer. Martin was only able to get a few pieces before finding the short sides.

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Ovechkin was denied a hat-trick in the second period. Hot in the third period he found an iron on his shot after Martin got the glove on his shot in the slot. He also missed a long shot from his own half as Martin drew in additional attackers and was denied again at the last minute.he wittyh 5 shots and 12 trials.

The Canucks have no answers for Ovechkin this season. He scored his two goals for Thatcher’s Demco and on 17 October home he added his two helpers in a 6–4 victory over Ice.

2 goals too easy

Denying Ovechkin was tough enough, but the way Anthony Mantha and John Carlson scored easy goals was worrying.

Mantha parked in a slot and got a corner feed from Marcus Johansson. And he easily gave the Capitals a cushion of his 3-1 as Kyle Burroughs and Tyler Myers lost positions in the corners and Petersson and Ilya Mikheev went on defense.

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Carlson was then left at the top of the slot to make it 4-1.

Hoglander shows great finish

For a man who has struggled to score goals this season, Nils Hoglander looked like a veteran when the winger responded to Ovechkin’s goal. He got a sweet feed from his JT his mirror and stuffed Darcy his Kemper backhand across the crease for his second goal of 2022-23.

The Canucks had a chance to cut the two-goal deficit in the third when Peterson hit a heavy shot and Andrei Kuzmenko slid wide on the rebound. Petterson had a tough night, finishing minus five.

Further crease review…

After a long talk with coach Ian Clarke on Tuesday morning, Martin finished his game-day skating at Rogers Arena, becoming the first goalkeeper to signal a starting assignment.

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And, of course, questions arose about the thought process of creases on the expected backup after Demko’s 4-3 win in extra time in San Jose on Sunday. The third period, in which his club was under siege, contained 32 saves and 17 saves.

Demko seemed to have rediscovered his patience and calm game, and getting back into the net on Tuesday seemed like a no-brainer. There are several factors involved in the starter nomination, including recent performances, match history with opponents, and schedule rotation, which seemed odd.

Boudreau said of Demko, “The whole idea is not that suddenly he plays some good games and then plays eight in a row.” “Spencer was really good and I want to take it a little slower for Thatcher.

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“But there’s no denying that Spencer has been great every time he’s out there. You can’t just sit there and say DeMar is our No. 1 guy.

There’s a nuanced message there about consistency and sustainability in his drive to become one of the game’s elite stoppers, but it’s also hard to argue with Martin’s numbers by Tuesday.

He brought a 6-1-1 record and a .901 save percentage to the Capitals contest — had a season-high 37 saves on Nov. 8 to help lead a wild 6-4 victory — and last year The season posted a 3-0-3 mark with 47 saves against Edmonton on January 25.

By comparison, Demko went 3-9-2 with a .885 save percentage, a far cry from last season’s career record. Appearances (64), Wins (33), Average Points Conceded (2.72).

bkuzma@postmedia.com

twitter.com/@benkuzma

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