CENTER OF ATTENTION: Alex Ovechkin’s teammates mob him after he scored in the first period of last night’s 2-1 victory over the Rangers in Game 6 at the Verizon Center in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON — Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said before last night’s Game 6 here against the Rangers that he didn’t want his season to end.
He made sure it didn’t.
Ovechkin’s goal 88 seconds into the game set the tone for the Capitals, who claimed a 2-1 victory over the Rangers to send the series back to Madison Square Garden for Game 7 on Saturday night.
“We don’t want to stop playing,” Ovechkin said afterward. “We don’t want to finish the season. We knew we could beat them.”
The Capitals were able to beat the Rangers thanks in large part to the contribution of their superstar captain. After Anton Stralman took a bad tripping penalty 1:13 into the game, Ovechkin immediately put the Capitals ahead on the ensuing power play.
He positioned himself in the middle of the ice on the power play, and after receiving a pass from Nicklas Backstrom in the slot, Ovechkin rifled a blistering shot past Henrik Lundqvist’s glove.
“You can see how we started the hockey game,” said Ovechkin, who now is tied with Peter Bondra for the franchise’s all-time lead in playoff goals with 30. “We got the puck deep, finished our checks and moved our legs. We got a penalty and scored a goal.”
The early goal allowed the Capitals to immediately put their collapse at the end of Game 5 behind them and they never looked back, dominating large stretches of the game.
“That’s just the way we are,” forward Jason Chimera said. “We’re a cool team in here … we don’t really crack.”
Ovechkin nearly added another goal early in the third period when forward Joel Ward centered the puck to him in front of the net for a clear chance, with only a terrific save from Lundqvist keeping the puck out of the net. Then, moments later, he nearly pulled off what could only be described as a circus shot, firing the puck at Lundqvist while sitting and spinning around on the ice.
He later set up forward Marcus Johansson with a point-blank chance that forced Lundqvist to make another difficult save.
“He wants to win,” Ward said of Ovechkin. “We definitely follow him.
“There’s no secret he’s a tremendous offensive weapon … it’s fun to see him excited and scoring, and we’re just trying to follow suit.”
But it wasn’t only on the offensive end where the Capitals star made his presence felt. Ovechkin also chipped into his team’s collective effort in its defensive zone, finishing with three blocked shots and five hits.
“He’s our leader,” forward Troy Brouwer said. “He’s our captain.
“That’s what he should be doing out there, leading by example, and he did tonight.”
Now he’ll get a chance to do it one more time Saturday night at the Garden.