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SPORTS Thursday 5 OcTOber 2017

Capitals have high goal-scoring

expectations for Ovechkin at 32

By STEPHEN WHYNO realistic? Coach Barry Trotz MacLellan expects Ovech-
AP Hockey Writer thinks “you keep the bar at kin’s ice time to go up since
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — 50” until Ovechkin doesn’t Washington’s depth went
Alex Ovechkin has scored get there. down. With that comes the
50 goals so regularly that The Russian superstar who expectation for more pro-
finishing with 30-something will start the season on duction.
was a disappointment. Washington’s second line “I’m a goal-scorer, and my
Ovechkin is responsible for alongside countryman job to score goals,” Ovech-
seven of the 20 times any Evgeny Kuznetsov still thinks kin said.
player has scored 50 goals 50 is possible even as it be- “The more goals, more
in a season since he en- comes a rare milestone. points I’m gonna get is
tered the league in 2005. “Why not?” Ovechkin said. gonna be much better.”
As Washington Capitals “You have opportunities Ovechkin scored just 16 of
teammate T.J. Oshie point- to score goals. You have his 33 goals last season at
ed out, Ovechkin is “a pure chances. You just have even strength and the rest
goal-scorer, the best of our to put the puck in. Obvi- on the power play, the low- In this April 8, 2017, file photo, Washington Capitals’ Alex
time,” and his 558 career ously without shots, you est percentage of his ca- Ovechkin skates during the third period of an NHL hockey game
goals are well ahead of can’t score. If you have a reer. Now the challenge against the Boston Bruins, in Boston.
everyone else in the NHL in chance, you have to put it is for him to increase that Associated Press
that time. in.” number at 5-on-5, which his feet to generate space, But for Trotz to expect
The challenge now is for No one has put the puck Trotz thinks will be the differ- trying to create room physi- Ovechkin to approach 50
Ovechkin to keep it up go- in better over the past de- ence between Ovechkin cally. Instead of waiting for goals, which no player did
ing into his 13th season at cade or so than Ovechkin, scoring 35 goals or 50. the puck, searching out the last season, it’ll come down
age 32. His 33 goals last whose season goal totals MacLellan hopes splitting puck and creating more to scoring at 5-on-5.
season were his fewest in are 52, 46, 65, 56, 50, 32, 38, Ovechkin and top center that way I think would im- “It’s harder and harder in
an 82-game season since 32, 51, 53, 50 and 33. With Nicklas Backstrom forces prove his 5-on-5 game.” this league, but he’s still a
2010-11, and now the Cap- the Capitals still aiming to opponents to choose who Ovechkin has led the talent and he’s still playing
itals need him to up the win the Stanley Cup after to put their top defenders league in power-play goals with good players and that
ante after several key off- losing forwards Marcus Jo- against. the past five seasons, so shot hasn’t gone away
season losses. hansson, Justin Williams and Maybe Ovechkin can feast that’s not the problem. yet,” Trotz said. “If we can
“Last year’s the minimum,” Daniel Winnik and defense- on some slightly inferior Calgary goaltender Eddie get him into areas, danger-
general manager Brian men Karl Alzner, Kevin Shat- competition and pile up Lack even jokingly tweeted ous areas, to score, if he
MacLellan said Tuesday. tenkirk and Nate Schmidt, the goals. that the league should out- can get himself into dan-
“I think he can get more Ovechkin and the other “It’s hard to generate law shooting from the “Ovi- gerous areas to score, then
goals than that.” well-paid players must pick space out there,” MacLel- zoid” in the faceoff circle he’s going to score more
But how many goals are up the slack. lan said. “For Alex, it’s using to slow Ovechkin down. goals.”q
Flames sign 45-year-old Jaromir Jagr to 1-year deal

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — games with Pittsburgh, Penguins win back-to- still younger than me. It was fully they can say the same
Jaromir Jagr has signed Washington, New York back Stanley Cups in 1991 great for me and hope- thing.”q
with the Calgary Flames. Rangers, Philadelphia, Dal- and 1992. The Czech star
The 45-year-old Jagr las, Boston, New Jersey and won the Hart Trophy as the
agreed to a one-year deal Florida and is 57 games NHL’s most valuable player
Wednesday for his 24th NHL from passing Gordie Howe in 1999.
season — and first with a for the most NHL games Last season, he had 16
Canadian team. played (1,767). goals and 30 assists in 82
“I already said in a Czech Flames assistant general games with Florida. Ten
newspaper it’s 99.9 per- manager Craig Conroy Flames were not even born
cent that his will be my last said “everyone was on in 1991 when Jagr won the
season, so I want to get the board” with the signing. first of his Stanley Cup.
experience to one day say “How do we make us com- “Everyone compared to
I played for a Canadian petitive? We felt the best my age is a young guy,”
team,” Jagr said. way to do this is to get the Jagr said. “Last 20 years
The five-time NHL scoring best player available, and I’ve played with young
champion is second be- Jaromir Jagr happened to guys. But the last two years
hind Wayne Gretzky in NHL be available,” Conroy said. in Florida I played with
history with 1,914 points Jagr started his career with (Jonathan) Huberdeau
(765 goals, 1,149 assists). Pittsburgh in the 1990-91 and (Aleksander) Barkov
Jagr has played 1,711 NHL season and helped the and combined their age is