The Washington Capitals successfully kicked off the new NHL regular season week, managing to stop a losing streak by defeating one of the league leaders, the Los Angeles Kings, on their home ice the previous night. Alexander Ovechkin was the key figure in this clash, scoring the game-winning goal (his third of the current season and 139th in his regular-season career, which is a record). Before heading to Montreal, which will temporarily interrupt the Capitals’ home stand, the capital club hosted the Edmonton Oilers. The “Oilers'” situation this new season, much like Washington’s, leaves much to be desired. Edmonton is displaying extremely inconsistent play, alternating wins with losses and generally losing more often than winning. Prior to their visit to the US capital, they suffered a crushing defeat against the Buffalo Sabres (1:5), who have been NHL outsiders in recent seasons. Furthermore, the finalists of the last two Stanley Cup playoffs show the most obvious problems with defensive organization and goaltending in the current championship. The Oilers steadily concede many goals: they have allowed a total of 75 goals in their previous 21 games. In the new season, only the Vancouver Canucks (77 in 21 games), St. Louis Blues (76 in 20 games), and Toronto Maple Leafs (74 in 20 games) have allowed more goals, with whom Edmonton essentially shares a similar fate. Nevertheless, even against the backdrop of a difficult period for both teams, the head-to-head confrontation between Washington and Edmonton promised to be spectacular and engaging. The reason, of course, lies in two outstanding individuals: the perennial leader of the Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin, the best goal-scorer in NHL regular season history, and the main “heir” to Wayne Gretzky on the Oilers, the recognized best player in the world, Connor McDavid. This marked their 15th personal meeting in regular season games. In the previous 14 matchups, the Russian earned 15 points (8 goals and 7 assists), while McDavid collected 24 points (8+16). Furthermore, the Capitals, with Alexander Mikhailovich in the lineup, showed significantly greater success against the Oilers with the Canadian superstar forward, achieving eight wins against six losses (two of which were in overtime). Alexander Ovechkin and Connor McDavid (right)© Photo: x.com/capitalspr Under the headline “Clash of Titans,” the NHL press service announced the Washington vs. Edmonton game, focusing on the duel between Ovi and McDavid. This is entirely understandable: the Canadian and the Russian are the only active players in the league who have won the Hart Memorial Trophy at least three times: Ovechkin won this prestigious award in 2008, 2009, and 2013, while McDavid was named the regular season MVP in 2017, 2021, and 2023. In the entire history of the NHL, considering the Capitals’ captain and the Oilers’ leader, only nine hockey players have won the Hart Trophy three or more times in their careers (Wayne Gretzky – 9, Gordie Howe – 6, Eddie Shore – 4, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Clarke, Bobby Orr, and Howie Morenz – 3 times each). It is interesting to note that Ovechkin and McDavid have accumulated a total of 32 individual NHL awards: they each have 10 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies, six Ted Lindsay Awards, Art Ross Trophies, and Hart Trophies each, two Conn Smythe Trophies each, one Calder Trophy each, and a Mark Messier award, which Ovi received after last year’s season. However, the Russian sniper has something the Canadian goal-scorer does not yet have—the Stanley Cup. Although Alexander Mikhailovich took almost 13 years to reach his first (and so far only) NHL championship title, McDavid is playing his 11th season in the best league in the world and was one step away from the coveted victory in the previous two playoffs. The Russian machine cannot be stopped! Before the new meeting with Edmonton, Alexander Ovechkin had played 26 head-to-head matches against the Oilers in NHL championships, earning 29 points in them, including 17 goals. The last time the Capitals, with their legendary captain, played against the Oilers was back in February, and that time the Capitals were significantly stronger, winning 7:3. Ovechkin himself was the main hero of that battle, recording his 32nd career hat trick in NHL regular-season games. Notably, before that, Alexander Mikhailovich had a streak of four games without a goal against Edmonton. Ovechkin did not want to allow a new goal drought in confrontations with the Oilers. On the contrary, the best goal-scorer in history once again vividly demonstrated that he knows best how to put the puck into the opponent’s net. Alexander Mikhailovich did not delay in accomplishing this task, outplaying Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner in the seventh minute of the game. Ovechkin took a favorable position in the slot and skillfully played a deflection after a feed from John Carlson (the same Carlson who assisted on Ovi’s historic 900th NHL goal). Oilers defenseman Alec Regula shadowed the Washington Russian forward until the very end but could not prevent him from tipping his stick so that the puck ended up in the net. Thanks to this goal, Ovechkin: increased his total career goals in NHL regular season games to 904, and including playoffs—to 981. The Russian is 36 goals short of the league’s absolute goal-scoring record, held by Wayne Gretzky (1016); scored for the 480th time on the ice of the Capital One Arena (considering NHL regular season and playoffs), thus tying the league record for the number of goals scored in a single arena, and matching Gordie Howe, who scored 480 goals at the former home arena of the Detroit Red Wings, the Olympia. The night before, Ovi scored against the Los Angeles Kings and set a new league record for the same criterion, but only within the NHL regular season, surpassing the same Gordie Howe; recorded at least one point in an NHL regular season game for the 1007th time in his career, overtaking Joe Thornton and taking eighth place in league history for this figure. Wayne Gretzky remains the record holder (1221); became the first player aged 40 or older to score in three NHL games since December 2016; reduced his deficit to Joe Sakic (1641), who occupies tenth place in the list of top scorers in NHL history, by two points. It is important to note that Ovechkin was not the only one to score a goal in this match. A few minutes before Alexander Mikhailovich’s goal, his teammate Alexey Protas opened the scoring: the Belarusian forward technically finished a pass from John Carlson at the far post and ended his seven-game goalless streak. Also in the middle of the first period, 20-year-old Ryan Leonard scored, who has secured a regular spot on the Caps’ roster. Edmonton’s response to these goals was a brace from one of the most criticized defensemen in the league, Darnell Nurse. In the second period, Leonard completed his brace, pulling away from another often-criticized Oilers defenseman, Evan Bouchard, and scoring a beautiful goal. However, David Tomasek reignited the intrigue with a goal early in the third period. It remained until the final minutes of regulation time, even after Anthony Beauvillier and Leon Draisaitl exchanged goals one minute apart. But Edmonton could not complete the comeback—Tom Wilson hit the empty net twice in a row in 30 seconds, securing a confident 7:4 victory for Washington. Tomorrow, the Capitals have a game in Montreal against the local Canadiens, where the promising Russian forward Ivan Demidov plays. The last head-to-head meeting between these teams took place in the spring during the first round of the playoffs: Alexander Ovechkin’s team won the five-game series.
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