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 The left winger, who eclipsed the 50-goal mark five times in his
NHL career, is used to scoring, but his recent drought didn't faze
Trotz.
"He might go through stretches like this one," Trotz said Thursday
morning, "but the goals will come."
There certainly isn't now. Ovechkin scored the tiebreaking goal at
14:04 of the third period, and the Capitals ended their three-game
road trip with a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday
night.
Center Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist, and left winger
Jason Chimera also scored for the Capitals. Goaltender Braden Holtby
stopped 27 shots for Washington.
Ovechkin, who assisted on Backstrom's goal, produced the winner when
he muscled around defenseman Jan Hejda and put a soft shot on
goaltender Reto Berra. He then poked in his own rebound for his
ninth goal of the season and first in four games.
"It was a lucky bounce (to get the puck back)," Ovechkin said. "I
was skating and put the puck on net. It was a huge goal and gave us
the points."
Hejda took the blame.
"It's a game about mistakes," he said. "I made one, and we paid the
price."
Ovechkin's dynamic play was familiar to Avalanche fans who watched
Peter Forsberg score impossible goals throughout his career. The
newly minted Hall of Famer was in the crowd with his wife and two
children three days after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of
Fame in Toronto.
Colorado could have used him when coach Patrick Roy pulled Berra for
an extra skater with 1:28 left. The Avalanche had several chances
but couldn't get the equalizer.
"Too bad we could not score towards the end," Roy said. "We had our
chances, plenty of looks."
Berra finished with 20 saves, and center Daniel Briere and
defenseman Tyson Barrie scored goals for Colorado, which had four
days off after winning two straight on the road.
"It's a tough situation losing a game where you think you played a
good game, but sometimes those things happen," Roy said. "We need to
stick to it because I think there's a lot of positives in the way
we've been playing."
Colorado tied it at 6:44 of the third period when Barrie pinched in
from blue line and redirected a pass from left winger Gabriel
Landeskog.
"I got over there a little late and should have read it better,"
Holtby said.
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The Avalanche lost right winger Alex Tanguay in the second period
after he was hit in the face with a shot by Ovechkin. Tanguay
immediately skated to the bench and went into the locker room.
He didn't return and the team announced he sustained a jaw injury.
"We'll know more (Friday)," Roy said.
Backstrom made it 1-0 when he turned defenseman Erik Johnson's
giveaway into a goal 1:04 into the second period. It was his fifth
of the season.
Washington nearly scored again a minute later, but Colorado cleared
a loose puck in its own crease before a Capitals player could get a
stick on it.
The Avalanche took advantage of the break when center Nathan
MacKinnon drove hard to the net and Briere wristed the rebound past
Holtby at 2:53.
Colorado had a chance to go ahead, but center John Mitchell barely
missed tipping a shot by right winger Jarome Iginla. On the ensuing
counterattack, Chimera skated to the top of the right circle and put
a snap shot over Berra's right shoulder at 12:10 of the second
period. It was his second goal of the season.
"I'm not really happy with that game," Berra said. "I think I
could've stopped each of these goals."
NOTES: Avalanche LW Jamie McGinn was scratched due to a back injury.
McGinn, who has four goals, didn't skate the last three days. Rookie
RW Dennis Everberg took his place in the lineup. ... Washington RW
Alex Ovechkin played in his 698th career game. He ranks eighth on
the franchise list in games played. ... Colorado G Semyon Varlamov
didn't play because of a groin injury. Coach Patrick Roy said the
groin isn't severe enough to place Varlamov on injured reserve.
Varlamov missed three games last month because of a similar injury.
Calvin Pickard, recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL on Tuesday,
served as Reto Berra's backup.
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