Alex Ovechkin did it again. He scored another jaw-dropping goal that makes you wonder how much talent, coordination and skill one player can have.
With the Canadiens on a line change, Ovie caught a helpless, immobile Roman Hamrlik lumbering near the puck on the far boards. He intercepted the pass, banked it off the boards, and spun around the now pantsless defender.
As he skated in, another Canadien had an angle to intercept, but overpursued the fleet-footed Ovie. Some nifty stickwork, but even more raw strength, got his opponent behind him, out of position. As they collided, Ovie fell on his right side, seemingly out of the play. The recently discarded defender continued to sprawl helplessly, spinning toward the net.
But just as the area behind the net was Wayne Gretzky's "office," the area in front of the net when he's sliding on his butt is Ovie's hot zone.
While laying on his side and sliding from the goalie's right to left, AO gathered up the puck closer to his chest, where he cleanly (cleanly!) shot the puck to the short side, right into the net!
In real time, it looks like chaos: a shifting goalie, a sprawling Ovie, and a twirling defender all arriving to the same point at the same time as the puck careens into the net. What beautiful chaos though!
After the goal, Ovie continued to slide until hitting another Hab as he tried to sit up, causing him to spin around in circles on his backside.
For a second, even he seemed surprised at what he was capable of.
A beautiful goal, for sure, but the result -- two points, thanks to a shootout win -- was just as pretty.
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment 'til he fell on the ice.
