Â
(courtesy of Getty)
The NHL Opening Weekend kicked off in style from TD Banknorth Garden, featuring an exhibition of two division champions from a season ago. And if anyone could steal the glory of Boston’s quest for a Stanley Cup, it’s indeed Alex Ovechkin.
The Capitals sniper, who had all summer to ponder what went wrong after a Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, was no doubt the most eager man taking the ice. No slow starts for Alex the Great either. Although his first period was anything but stellar, as the powerplay stalled and he missed a few opportunities on net, he was unstoppable in the final 40 minutes of action.
Paired with new linemate, Alexander Semin, the Bruins defense somehow forgot all about him as Semin drifted into the offensive zone. Semin took the puck, found Ovechkin trailing late and the Great 8 made no mistake with his quick snapshot.
Ovechkin wasn’t done yet. After demolishing Bruins veteran Mark Recchi to end the second period, hulking defenseman Zdeno Chara took an undisciplined penalty with two seconds to go, giving the Capitals another powerplay chance. The Caps unit came through, but only a minute after scoring, Ovechkin made a line to the net, beat Boston enforcer Milan Lucic to the puck and buried his 2nd of the evening.
 Two goals, an assist, five shots and three hits. All in a good night’s work for Alex the Great. Below are the two goals courtesy as always of the NHL and NHL.com