Alex Ovechkin Day was ruined. (Caps Outsider)
In response to a displeased Coach Barry Trotz, the Caps seemed to try to rectify some of their “behavior problems” Tuesday night when they lost 4-3 in OT to the Calgary Flames. Many Caps’ players are setting personal records and getting accolades, while teamwork has been lackluster and effort has been spotty of late.
In his postgame conference last Sunday night, Trotz vented his frustration following a 6-5 loss to the Arizona Coyotes extending their losing streak to four games. “No reason why this group can’t get it together,” he said. They need a little bit of a pact in that room to say, hey, we dug ourselves into a hole, now we have to dig ourselves out. The fans aren’t going to help us, the media isn’t going to help us, the other team isn’t going to help us.”
Alex Ovechkin is one player that continues to reach personal goals and set record after record, and Tuesday night was no different. At 10:18 in the first period, Ovechkin assisted a Nicklas Backstrom goal to break the all-time points record in franchise history which had been held by Peter Bondra. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Ovechkin and Bondra were tied at 825 points.
“It has been a thrill to watch Alex play for the Capitals during his long, illustrious career,” said Bondra. “He is an extremely talented player and I couldn’t be happier for him on achieving this great milestone. I extend to him my most sincere congratulations for passing my mark and becoming Washington’s franchise points leader. I wish him good luck in the rest of his career as he continues to rewrite the Capitals’ history books.”
Even The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, weighed in on Ovechkin’s momentous feat. “Congratulations to Alex Ovechkin on the outstanding achievement of becoming leading scorer in Washington Capitals history,” said Gretsky. “He’s a tremendous talent with many great years and achievements ahead of him.”
In the locker room after the game, Ovechkin did not want to speak about breaking Bondra’s record. Instead, he wanted to focus on the team and what they need to do to win.
“At this moment we stick together. Yeah, we’re losing some games. Yeah, we sometimes make mistakes. But we’re still together and we have to work together. It’s a good thing, like, right now it’s only, like, twelve games and we have a kind of slump, maybe no luck, but we just have to stick with it and keep fighting and keep playing, “said Ovechkin.
As for Coach Trotz, he was only disappointed with the outcome. “I liked the way we played. I thought we played a really strong game. Everybody was all-in tonight,” said Trotz.
The Caps’ next chance to grab a win will be November 7 against the Blackhawks.
