Ovi's Epic OT Goal Seals Caps' Thrilling Victory Over Habs

In the grand theater of playoff hockey, where the stakes are high and the adrenaline pulses through every vein, the Washington Capitals managed a victory that was nothing short of a gutsy, edge-of-your-seat escapade. Picture this: The clock ticking down, the score tied, and both teams hunkered down in a desperate dance of sticks and skates.

The game, like a fine tale, started with the promise of a knockout from the get-go, with Ovechkin taking the first shot. The Caps, leading earlier with precision plays, were in for a typical playoff rollercoaster. Cole Caufield’s response for Montreal and Nick Suzuki’s relentless efforts leveled the score, turning the game into a playoff script that had everyone gripping their seats. Just as some would say about the aftermath of an ill-advised late-night binge, the joy of the game turned treacherously into a roller coaster ride, a full-blown playoff “tummyache.”

Yet, this wasn’t just another game. Alex Ovechkin etched his name in the annals of hockey folklore in that intense overtime with a game-winner that’s sure to be remembered as a classic.

This first game set the stage for what promises to be an electrifying series, showcasing the ultimate blend of skill, strategy, and sheer willpower that playoff hockey is renowned for. Fans, ready your wits and your well-fed copes for more thrilling on-ice action that can only come from the playoffs.

Alex Ovechkin scores Capitals’ first goal of postseason, 14th on the NHL’s all-time playoffs goals list.

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The Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1, but they didn’t make it easy.

It was a delightful game for fifty minutes, and then suddenly it wasn’t. All the historical unpleasantness of Caps playoff hockey was absent from this game. Then it returned. It’s like when you eat a dozen hot wings by yourself in the dark at night and you’re like, “oh, this is fine, I don’t feel bad at all, I’m not gonna pay for this later at all.” No, it’s coming. It was always coming for you.

That’s Caps playoffs hockey: a tummyache.

The game began as all games should begin: with Alex Ovechkin near the faceoff dot. That lone goal of the first period was joined in the second with Anthony Beauvillier finishing his own rebound.

Cole Caufield made it 2-1 halfway into the third, thanks to a lucky bounce off Matt Roy. Nick Suzuki tied it five minutes later after a long scramble in front of the Caps net.

For the first time this postseason, a game went beyond sixty minutes. Here’s a tweet from the Canon:

Alex Ovechkin won it early in overtime. His first ever overtime game-winner.

Caps win! They lead the series 1-0.

• Here is the Caps’ strategy for the series: hit everything that moves. Alex Ovechkin and Anthony Beauvillier were doing just that on the first shift. In the second period, 24-year-old Cole Caufield got hit by the elder Ovechkin into oblivion. Don’t scroll past this hit.

Alex Ovechkin scores Capitals’ first goal of postseason, moves into 14th on the NHL’s all-time playoffs goals list

• Ovechkin added a primary assist on Anthony Beauvillier‘s goal. I was very surprised Spencer Carbery chose to go with the Ovechkin-Strome-Beauvillier line once Aliaksei Protas was confirmed out. I could have sworn Beauvillier was a placeholder, but maybe head coach Spencer Carbery sees something else. There was evident chemistry, and Beauvillier was just as dedicated to violence as Ovechkin, plus Beauvillier has a reputation as a playoff-scorer, plus one time he shot his shot with Anna Kendrick. I like him.
• Chris will give the full numbers breakdown tomorrow morning. but for now: the Caps had the puck on a string until those final ten minutes. The Habs either cut the string or took the string or did something else metaphorically to the string, but the effect was clear: they stole the game back.
• Defender Alex Alexeyev played just three rego-season games in this calendar year, but now here he is – getting a sweater while Fehervary remains out. Alex^2 established himself early by crosschecking Brendan Gallagher in the mouth. No call.

• I think the officials made good on that no-call when they let Josh Anderson get away with a dirty trip on John Carlson. Carlson was irate about it, and I would have been too – he could have been badly hurt. Same is true, I suppose, for Gallagher getting carbon fiber impacted into his mandible by Alexeyev.
• It’s weird. The early bit of the first round of the playoffs is kind of notorious for having lots of penalties – before the refs put the whistles away as the postseason wears on. But the officials let a lot go in Game 1 – often in Montreal’s favor. I’m not even sure what to make of Alexeyev getting hit in the mouth with 150 seconds left. It certainly wasn’t a penalty, so the no-call was the right call, but was it also cosmic justice? If yes, then Josh Anderson should check his steering rods and brake lines later.
• Logan Thompson returned to active play just in time. It was his first start since April 2, and he was great until the whole team collapsed. Cole Caufield’s power-play goal cracked his shutout bid, but it required a scandalously soft call on Pierre-Luc Dubois and a blessed bounce off Matt Roy to happen. Then Thompson got force-shoved out of the crease so that Nick Suzuki could tie it.
• That Suzuki goal could have been prevented a dozen times in a dozen ways, but the Caps couldn’t get a clean stick on the puck, and then McMichael hit-and-rolled Thompson out of the play. The Habs were terrific on that shift.

I fucking called it.

See you Wednesday. Let’s do this again. I’d say let’s do it again with normal blood pressure, but that’s not going to happen. It’s the playoffs. Let’s hurt ourselves.