Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
January 21, 2010 - After the Capitals and Penguins delivered one of the most memorable playoff series of the Salary Cap Era in the spring of 2009, there was much anticipation for their first meeting for their first meeting of the 2009-10 season. Fans had to wait quite a while, with each having played close to 50 games already, only adding to the anticipation. For Alex Ovechkin, it was much more than just another game - the Great 8 had something to prove. Part of it was to avenge the loss last postseason. Despite Ovechkin's ridiculous 8 goals and 14 points in the series, the Capitals lost in seven to the eventual Stanley Cup champions. Another motivating reason was his newly acquired captaincy. It was just his 9th game as captain of the Capitals. Ovechkin wasn't playing poorly by any means - he had 15 points, and the Capitals were near-perfect 7-1-0 in those 8 games, but Ovechkin had gone without a shot in his previous game for just the third time in his career. Against his biggest rivals, Ovi made sure to leave a mark on the game. His 3 points, 8 shots, and 7 hits led the Caps to a 6-3 win in Pittsburgh, and the Caps won their 5th game of what would go on to be a franchise-record 14-game win streak.
I've said it before on other videos from this time period, but to me it will always bear reiterating just how good Ovechkin was at this point in time. Statistically, he was a monster, but he was also noticeable on every shift. His effort extended to both ends of the rink too, with the Great 8 making defensive plays more frequently than at perhaps any other point of his career. In the Capitals' last 21 games (his captaincy) before the 2010 Olympic break, Ovechkin had 16 goals and 39 points (a 62-goal, 152-point pace), was +25, and the Capitals were 17-2-2. He's had some real heaters (January 2006, March 2008, November 2008, April 2013, March 2015, etc.), but for me nothing else tops this version of Ovi. Just unbelievably good.
Game stats: 2 goals, 3 points, 8 shots, 12 shot attempts, 7 hits
- 1st Period -
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - Ovechkin compares Caps-Pens to Lakers-Cavaliers.
1:53 - Pass to Knuble for chance
2:10 - Hit on Kris Letang
2:14 - Pass to Knuble again for chance
2:21 - Assist, between the legs dangle around Letang to set up Knuble
4:02 - Shot and hit on Crosby
4:28 - Hit on Letang
- 2nd Period -
4:34 - Chances and hit on Sergei Gonchar
4:58 - Pass for Knuble chance
5:13 - Backcheck and defensive play leads to Backstrom chance
5:28 - Hard hit on Ruslan Fedotenko
5:45 - Breaks up play in defensive zone, gets a shot at the other end, catches the rebound out of the air, takes hit from Oprik, battles with Gonchar, all in 35 seconds.
6:20 - Hit on Mark Eaton and chances
7:01 - End-to-end rush and shot
7:20 - Goal 1, 250th career goal, 5th fastest ever
9:00 - Hit on Eaton
9:13 - "Atta way boys, atta way"
- 3rd Period -
9:55 - Shot, battle with Orpik
10:22 - Ovechkam
11:48 - Goal 2
12:46 - Final buzzer
More classic Ovechkin games - youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8bFa0t7qpQfBYEXybnEr9NbAqFcPyyq
January 21, 2010 - After the Capitals and Penguins delivered one of the most memorable playoff series of the Salary Cap Era in the spring of 2009, there was much anticipation for their first meeting for their first meeting of the 2009-10 season. Fans had to wait quite a while, with each having played close to 50 games already, only adding to the anticipation. For Alex Ovechkin, it was much more than just another game - the Great 8 had something to prove. Part of it was to avenge the loss last postseason. Despite Ovechkin's ridiculous 8 goals and 14 points in the series, the Capitals lost in seven to the eventual Stanley Cup champions. Another motivating reason was his newly acquired captaincy. It was just his 9th game as captain of the Capitals. Ovechkin wasn't playing poorly by any means - he had 15 points, and the Capitals were near-perfect 7-1-0 in those 8 games, but Ovechkin had gone without a shot in his previous game for just the third time in his career. Against his biggest rivals, Ovi made sure to leave a mark on the game. His 3 points, 8 shots, and 7 hits led the Caps to a 6-3 win in Pittsburgh, and the Caps won their 5th game of what would go on to be a franchise-record 14-game win streak.
I've said it before on other videos from this time period, but to me it will always bear reiterating just how good Ovechkin was at this point in time. Statistically, he was a monster, but he was also noticeable on every shift. His effort extended to both ends of the rink too, with the Great 8 making defensive plays more frequently than at perhaps any other point of his career. In the Capitals' last 21 games (his captaincy) before the 2010 Olympic break, Ovechkin had 16 goals and 39 points (a 62-goal, 152-point pace), was +25, and the Capitals were 17-2-2. He's had some real heaters (January 2006, March 2008, November 2008, April 2013, March 2015, etc.), but for me nothing else tops this version of Ovi. Just unbelievably good.
Game stats: 2 goals, 3 points, 8 shots, 12 shot attempts, 7 hits
- 1st Period -
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - Ovechkin compares Caps-Pens to Lakers-Cavaliers.
1:53 - Pass to Knuble for chance
2:10 - Hit on Kris Letang
2:14 - Pass to Knuble again for chance
2:21 - Assist, between the legs dangle around Letang to set up Knuble
4:02 - Shot and hit on Crosby
4:28 - Hit on Letang
- 2nd Period -
4:34 - Chances and hit on Sergei Gonchar
4:58 - Pass for Knuble chance
5:13 - Backcheck and defensive play leads to Backstrom chance
5:28 - Hard hit on Ruslan Fedotenko
5:45 - Breaks up play in defensive zone, gets a shot at the other end, catches the rebound out of the air, takes hit from Oprik, battles with Gonchar, all in 35 seconds.
6:20 - Hit on Mark Eaton and chances
7:01 - End-to-end rush and shot
7:20 - Goal 1, 250th career goal, 5th fastest ever
9:00 - Hit on Eaton
9:13 - "Atta way boys, atta way"
- 3rd Period -
9:55 - Shot, battle with Orpik
10:22 - Ovechkam
11:48 - Goal 2
12:46 - Final buzzer
More classic Ovechkin games - youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8bFa0t7qpQfBYEXybnEr9NbAqFcPyyq
