Ovechkin Schools The Hurricanes (4/20/2019)

April 20, 2019 - While the Capitals' first series after their Cup win in 2018 had started strong with a 2-0 lead, their play had faltered when the series moved to Carolina, losing both games by a combined score of 7-1 and getting mostly outplayed. Still, the Great 8 had put together a solid series so far. Two goals and two assists through three games, including the Capitals' only goal in Carolina was good, but Washington needed more than just production from their captain - they needed a spark to turn the series around. Already missing top-pair defenseman Michal Kempny for the playoffs due to a late season injury, the Capitals were dealt a further blow when T.J. Oshie broke his collarbone on a hit from Warren Foegele and was ruled out for the remainder of the series. Ovi set the tone early with several heavy hits, and broke the game open with a huge assist to Nicklas Backstrom after Carolina had controlled most of the middle stanza. On his very next shift, Ovechkin delivered one of the most memorable assists of his career, lining up to hit Dougie Hamilton, who, fearing another massive hit from Ovechkin, backed off the puck, allowing the Great 8 to set up Brett Connolly for another goal. Ovechkin would close out the final frame with a bardown one timer on the power play and a crushing revenge hit on Foegele to lead the Caps to a 6-0 victory. Unfortunately, in a tale as old as time, the Capitals would lose in seven games despite a great series from Ovechkin, who would add another goal and highlight reel assist in the final two games in one of the best series of Ovechkin's career. Game 5 stands out as not only his best performance of this postseason, but one of the finest performances of his playoff career overall. 1st Period - 0:00 - Intro 1:26 - Fakes one-timer for pass to Backstrom 1:54 - Hit on Slavin 2:02 - Collision with Faulk 2:05 - Hit on Niederreiter 2:32 - Defensive play after turnover prevents odd-man rush for Hurricanes and leads to Backstrom goal 3:03 - Shot block 3:24 - Hit on Pesce 2nd Period - 3:30 - Assist 1 4:31 - Hit on Aho 4:48 - Assist 2, Dougie Hamilton scared to get hit by Ovi 6:50 - Shot-pass to Kuznetsov for chance 3rd Period - 7:23 - Huge hit on Foegele, payback for Foegele's season-ending hit on Oshie in Game 4 7:42 - Goal 8:27 - Hit on Williams 8:34 - Final buzzer More classic Ovechkin games -    • Classic Ovechkin Games   Full 2019 Playoffs Highlights:    • Ovechkin 2019 Playoffs Highlight Reel   Playoff Highlight Reels:    • Alex Ovechkin Playoff Highlight Reels