Fleury watched from the bench while Wild teammate Filip Gustavsson made three of his 28 saves against Ovechkin to slow his quest to catch Gretzky. Ovechkin finished with 11 shot attempts, but finding open ice against the defensive attention he received from the Wild was difficult.
Ovechkin had five of his attempts blocked, including two off right circle face-off plays in the third period when the Capitals were trailing 3-2 and pressing for the tying goal.
“I think everyone knows that we’re doing that,” Capitals center Dylan Strome said. “It’s a tough shot to get off. For me, it’s a little easier for me to win the draw against a righty going back that way anyway, but it’s a tough play. It’s a tough play to get through.
“He had a couple looks at it tonight, but, ultimately, it’s our job to either (set a) pick or win it cleaner on his tape and get him the shots through.”
Needing a win to maintain their four-point lead on the St. Louis Blues for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, the Wild (41-27-5) played with the necessary desperation for the situation. That included embracing the challenge of trying to prevent Ovechkin from scoring.
“Especially right now when it’s going for the record,” said Brodin, who stripped Ovechkin from behind to prevent a breakaway in the third period. “It’s always fun to try to stop those guys, you know? You get extra motivation. You want to stop those guys because you want to make it hard for them, to make them frustrated.”
The Capitals (47-16-9) have already clinched a playoff berth and are comfortably atop the Eastern Conference after going 9-2-1 in their past 12 games. Carbery said they need to get used to playing in these kinds of tight-checking games, though, as they approach the playoffs.
And Ovechkin will have to find a way to fight through the added attention in Washington’s final 10 games if he’s going to overtake Gretzky this season.
“I thought off the rush (he) had a couple opportunities,” Carbery said. “Moving around a little bit on the power play, (he) had some looks. But this time of year, it’s hard to score goals especially against teams that are right there fighting for their lives.
“They’re going to make it difficult for you, so there’s going to be no freebies the rest of the way for any of our guys, let alone for O.”
Ovechkin’s next chance will come when the Capitals host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; MNMT, MSG-B, TVAS2, SN360). With 36 goals in 56 games this season (0.64 per game), he is on pace to score his 895th goal in Washington’s regular-season finale at Pittsburgh on April 17.
Ovechkin’s career average of 0.60 goals per game also lines him up to score the record-breaking goal against the Penguins on April 17.
“Had a couple good looks tonight and a couple on the power play, even some backdoors, but ultimately unable to get one through for him and for us,” Strome said. “So, keep grinding and 10 more (games) to go.”
