Even Ovechkin's goals can't save him. Washington is on the brink of disaster

The Washington Capitals are an amazing team. A little more than a month ago, a cross was put on its prospects to continue the season after the end of the NHL regular season, but then it was promptly dug out, and the “capital” team themselves suddenly turned into one of the main contenders for getting into the playoffs. However, the Capitals managed to squander the advantage they had gained with great difficulty and, it seemed, a ticket to the Stanley Cup that they had acquired.
“Will Washington stand the test of a difficult calendar?” — this question was relevant at the end of the regular season. Spencer Carbery's players have given a very sad answer to this for their fans so far. The Capitals are losing game after game. And the closer the championship finish is, the more important the games become for the team. Yesterday's defeat of the Caps in a fundamental battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins did not dot all the i's, but indicated the probable failure of the capital. Although Washington tried not to show despondency in its eyes.
“We still have chances. We are still in the game. We just need to keep fighting. That’s all,” team captain Alexander Ovechkin said briefly and clearly after the game with the Pens.

And Ovi seems to prove what he said with action. Already today, his Washington visited the Carolina Hurricanes, for which ex-Capitals players Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov play. Alexander started this match with a bang, scoring a double in the first period. Moreover, both goals were, to put it mildly, atypical for the Russian goalscorer. Both pucks came from the nickel: first, Ovi played well on the finish and scored the anniversary, 850th goal of his career in the NHL championships, and then technically corrected the puck after the throw. Having scored the 173rd double in his overseas career, Ovi became even closer to Wayne Gretzky. There are 43 goals left before repeating his sniper record.

Ovi was close to a historic hat-trick. But Carolina goalkeeper Petr Kochetkov did not allow this to happen.

Kochetkov, by the way, became one of the key players in the match. He had virtually no work to do in the game against Washington. In the first two periods, only ten shots were on target. Ten very rare throws. Most of the time, the Russian was frankly bored. Even if he left the site, no one would notice. But if it was necessary to enter the game, then Peter did it brilliantly. As best he can.

Most of the game took place in the Washington zone. Carolina's hockey players literally strangled the capital's players and did not give Caps goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper a moment's rest. In the middle of the second period, he already had 30 saves! But neither Kemper nor the entire Washington team could hold back the incredibly powerful pressure of the “hurricanes” forever. And then “Carolina” suffered.

Thanks to Jake Guentzel's goal, the Hurricanes were relieved psychologically, realizing that the opponent's goal was only Kuemper, and not the conditional Martin Brodeur. In the third period, the Canes finished what they started. The hosts forced the Washington players to make one mistake after another, which resulted in fatal deletions. Carolina converted two numerical majority goals at the end of the game and then finished off the visitors with a goal into an empty net.
2:4 — “Washington” suffered its fifth defeat in a row. Fortunately for the Capitals, their main competitors stumbled in parallel matches. The Philadelphia Flyers, along with Ivan Fedotov, lost to Buffalo, and the Detroit Red Wings could not beat the New York Rangers. Thanks to these results, two more participants in the playoffs were determined from the Eastern Conference — the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning. And now the situation in the fight for the remaining two tickets is as follows:

• seventh and eighth places in the East are occupied by the New York Islanders and » Philadelphia Flyers, respectively;
• Third and fourth places in the Metropolitan Division are also occupied by the Islanders and Flyers;
• The Islanders have 83 points in 76 games, the Flyers have 83 points in 77 games;
• Washington and Detroit each have 82 points in 76 games, followed by Pittsburgh (81 points in 76 games), Buffalo (79 points in 77 games) and “New Jersey Devils” (76 points in 76 matches).

The fight among these teams promises to be not just sharp, but fierce. In the remaining matches until the end of the regular season:

• Washingtonwill play with Ottawa, » Detroit», «Buffalo», «Tampa», «Boston» and «Philadelphia»;
• «Islanders» — with Nashville, Rangers (twice), Montreal, New Jersey and Pittsburgh;
• Philadelphia — with Columbus, Montreal, Rangers, New Jersey and Washington;

< li class="article__list-item">Detroit — with Buffalo, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Montreal (twice);

• Pittsburgh — with Tampa, Toronto, Detroit, Boston, Nashville and the Islanders;
• «Buffalo» — with «Detroit», «Dallas», «Washington», «Florida» and «Tampa»;
• «New Jersey» — with «Ottawa», «Nashville», «Toronto» (twice), «Philadelphia» and «Islanders».

Whose the calendar is more complex — a question that has no answer. There are a lot of intersections and intrigues; there is an order of magnitude less clarity about how everything will end. The more interesting it is to watch.