Capitals look to build on shootout escape as Ovechkin closes in on NHL goals record

Alex Ovechkin is still scoring, but his division-leading Washington Capitals are skidding.

Monday’s shootout win over the Ottawa Senators ended a three-game losing streak, but the road to the postseason doesn’t get any easier with 21 games remaining.

Several players and coach Spencer Carbery said after Tuesday’s practice that the win was a necessity. The Capitals have been on a rollercoaster ride since February’s two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Washington opened with a pair of dominant wins, scoring 15 goals within 24 hours during games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers.

Then came the slump.

The Capitals dropped three straight games during their season-long five-game homestand. 

Ovechkin kept scoring. He needs just 11 now to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record, but the squad’s performance has fallen off.

Carbery blamed the wins over the Oilers and Penguins — the blowouts gave his players the idea that they could take their foot off the gas.

“I think it gave us a little bit of a false reality of, ‘Oh, this is going to be easy. We’ll be able to cruise down the stretch and score seven goals a game,’” he said Tuesday. “But we found out quickly that that’s not going to be the case, and so hopefully we can get our game back in order.”

Nothing comes easy in the NHL.

The win over the Senators required heroics from goaltender Logan Thompson, who saved every shot during overtime and the subsequent shootout.

But Washington was one goal mistake from blowing the game after allowing three goals in the third period, including a game-tying score by Brady Tkachuk with 68 seconds left.

But surviving a furious Ottawa rally in Washington’s first shootout win of the season is a step in the right direction.

“There’s ups and downs. You’re going to have to fight through adversity, and that’s kind of what happened to us,” Thompson said Tuesday. “It was huge to get over that hunch and stop that losing streak. Now we can turn the page.”

The squad will look to right the ship, ideally in regulation, on the road Wednesday night against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. 

The level of competition won’t get any easier, though.

Everyone wants to take a shot at the Eastern Conference leaders, especially with several teams fighting for a playoff spot.

“The games are going to get more difficult in our last 20. That is a certainty. There’s zero question about that,” Carbery said. “Even when you’re playing teams that are out of the playoff hunt, those provide different challenges. But there’s so many teams that are right there.”

Ovechkin’s individual quest will only get more difficult, too.

“As it gets closer, it becomes more difficult. Teams don’t want to be on the ice for that [record-breaking] goal,” Carbery said. “You’re going to get checked hard. The pressure starts to build. Those are things that he and us as a team are going to have to battle through.”

Opposing teams already adjust their game plans for Washington’s 39-year-old captain. And why wouldn’t they? Despite missing more than a month with a broken fibula, Ovechkin ranks sixth in the league with 31 goals.

“It’s more a playmaking challenge, mostly. It’s hard because the opposition is always aware of him, where he is at, and tries to defend hard,” center Aliaksei Protas said. “That’s been the most challenging thing: finding chances.”

The break served Ovechkin well. The Russian has scored five times in six games since the 4 Nations Face-Off, putting him squarely on pace to surpass Gretzky by the end of the season.

His teammates have some requests about what the record-breaking goals should look like. Protas thinks a vintage one-timer would be the way to go, but Carbery just wants to see it on home ice before the season ends.

“So that our fan base can celebrate in that moment, it would be really nice. And then this year too, I think just with the year that he’s had,” Carbery said. “But there’s still a long way to go, so I’m trying to not let myself get too ahead of ourselves here.”