It didn’t take long. It was all of 35 seconds before Alexander Ovechkin was able to register his 1,000th career point. Fittingly it was by scoring a goal with his deadly shot which beat Marc-Andre Fleury over his glove shoulder.
Time on ice between Ovechkin's 999th pt and his 1,000th: One minute. Had 25-second shift after 999 in MON, scored 35 seconds into PIT game.
— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) January 12, 2017
There have been many players to record milestones like this in the sport whether it be 500/600/700 goals 1,000/1,500 points and those moments are etched in history. It is a bonus when your moment can be as aesthetically pleasing as Ovechkin’s goal.
He wasn’t done. Even though his opening goal was nice he felt the need to show off his most famous skillset and that is absolutely vaporizing pucks from the left circle on the power play.
It was probably for the better than Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t save that puck because his hand would have been in 1,000 pieces if he did. A lot of people remain dumbfounded why Alex Ovechkin gets those looks on the power play, but the Capitals do an amazing job with their power play setup. There have been times when Mike Babcock has had his teams shadow Ovechkin on the power play and the result was the same. The other four guys will beat you. He possesses the best shot of all-time and if he gets it off it has potential to go in regardless of the area it came from. The Capitals have a perfect blend of players on their power play and they do a great job of maximizing those players' skill sets. Ultimately, that is why Ovechkin can still find an open shot on that left circle.
Congrats to Alex on point number 1,000. Up next at some point this year will be Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins lost 5-2 but they didn’t play terrible.
The above chart was created by Micah Blake McCurdy (@ineffectivemath). These charts are free at his Hockey Viz website after 2PM Atlantic time.
Truth be told the Penguins had more control of the game they just could not find a way to beat Braden Holtby enough as he stopped 32 out of 34 to continue his stretch of excellent play.
There were seven goals in the game. Four of the goals came on the power play and one was an empty net. Not much to be had at even-strength last night.
*guy behind the brick wall*
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) January 12, 2017
After a bad postseason and a rough start this season Olli Maatta has been pretty good for a while now.
It's true. He is finally trending in the right direction on both the possession front and 5v5 offense
Pittsburgh needs this to happen. Brian Dumoulin is out and prior to having his jaw broken he was having an off year.
Here is a snapshot of the frequency each Penguins shoots at while on the ice
I made a thing trying to show what percentage of a teams shots each player is taking at 5v5; this is Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/NOScFOSL8R
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) January 12, 2017
Pittsburgh is back in action tonight and it will likely mark the return of Matt Murray. They will be taking on the Ottawa Senators who are currently third place in the Atlantic Division.
Thanks for reading!