ARLINGTON, Va. — Alex Ovechkin approached linemates Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas after the second game of the Washington Capitals’ season to do some film study.
The trio who had never before played together watched their shifts from that game, and Ovechkin thought they needed to be more predictable, hesitate less and find one another for passes quicker.
It worked, and the result has been a hot start for the Capitals and their 39-year-old captain who is approaching one of hockey’s more unapproachable records faster than most expected. Ovechkin has five goals in his past four games to get on pace to catch and pass Wayne Gretzky for the NHL career goals mark before the end of the season — and Washington has won eight of 11.
“We’re connecting, playing for each other, and that’s the most important thing,” Ovechkin said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re scoring goals or make an assist, you just have to do the same thing over and over again.”
Ovechkin has done the same thing — put the puck in the net — better than everyone but Gretzky in the history of the sport. Seven goals this season have gotten him to 860, 35 back of breaking the record.
“It’s fun to play with him, to just see his excitement every time he goes on the ice and scores goals,” Protas said. “You want to help him more with that, want to be with him and get the energy out of it because he’s a phenomenal player, for sure. He’s chasing something special right now, and for sure it’s great to be with him and be a part of it.”
Ovechkin taking it into his own hands by reviewing game tape with younger teammates is something coach Spencer Carbery called “leadership 101.” Protas said it has been very helpful, and it doesn’t hurt that the advice came from a superstar with Ovechkin’s resume.
“Any time when he speaks up about where we need to be offensively and how we can be better, obviously we’re going to listen,” said Strome, who is tied for fifth in the league with 13 assists and leads the Capitals in scoring with 17 points. “It’s a good combination right now, so (we’ve) got to keep it rolling.”
Ovechkin, who was just named the NHL’s first star of the week, did not score his seventh goal last season until his 34th game on Dec. 30.
Asked what was different, he joked, “Stromer find me and give me the puck.”
Strome doesn’t necessarily disagree. His philosophy when playing with Ovechkin is simple:…