Alex Ovechkin appears to be a man on a mission. Monday night he posted two goals and four points in a 5-2 Washington Capitals win over the Canucks in Vancouver.
Ovechkin had a chance at a hat trick late with the Canucks net empty but opted to pass to T.J. Oshie for the goal.
“To me, that’s huge,”Caps head coach Todd Reirden said. “His leadership, we all were able to see it last [season] when we won the ultimate prize in our sport, and yes, he scored some big goals, but a lot of it had to do with his leadership in our room and shot-blocking and commitment to overall game. He could have easily scored himself, but it wasn’t even a thought. It doesn’t bother him one bit. His leadership has gone to a new level.”
Braden Holtby made 22 saves as the Caps improved to 4-2-2.
“They’re big, they’re strong, they’re skilled, they win puck battles, they manage the puck, they do everything that Stanley Cup-winning teams do,” coach Travis Green said.
Troy Stecher and Sven Baertschi struck for the Canucks who dropped to 5-4-0.
“We made a game of it,” Brandon Sutter said. “Unfortunately, they kept pulling away.”
John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Caps.
“Goalies don’t respect him (Kuznetsov) and [Backstrom] as much as shooters because they like to dump it off,” said Carlson, who got the primary assist on each power-play goal. “It’s big for us to catch goalies leaning back looking for where the puck is going to go next and surprise them a little.”
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Canucks highlights]
Anders Nilsson made 28 saves in the loss.
“We let them take the game to us. It’s a good hockey club over there. There’s a reason why they won the Stanley Cup,” the Canucks’ Bo Horvatsaid after the loss.
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