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Your savory breakfast of champions links:
- Resolved - Alex Ovechkin should adapt to a new, mature, sustainable shooting style. [Rink]
- Recaps and other assorted musings on last night’s loss from us, Vogs, Caps video (Reirden, locker room), NHL, PHT, WaPo, NBCSW, CP, NoVa Caps (and again), RMNB, St. Louis Game Time and Post-Dispatch.
- The final result of the game, a 5-2 loss, should not distract from the legendary career we see unfolding before us. Alex Ovechkin scored this season’s 30th goal, which marks the 14th consecutive season in which he has done so. That puts him in extremely rare company. [NHL, NBCSW (and again), NoVa Caps, theScore, RMNB, NESN]
- First, the goal:
Look who's back on the scoresheet!! No. 30 for Ovechkin ties it at 1!
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) January 4, 2019
Stream #CapsBlues live: https://t.co/Wn6LWyeTGx pic.twitter.com/HmiUpr6Fon
- And then, the accolades:
Alex Ovechkin is the second player in NHL history to score at least 30 goals in each of his first 14 seasons, joining longtime @Capitals forward Mike Gartner (15; 1979-80 to 1993-94). #NHLStats #WSHvsSTL pic.twitter.com/azdGqOeGCi
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 4, 2019
Alex Ovechkin has secured his 14th career 30-goal season, which ties him with Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Marcel Dionne.
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 4, 2019
The only players to achieve this more times are:
Jaromír Jagr (15x) and Mike Gartner (17x).
Legend.
(h/t @NHLBlinn) pic.twitter.com/2lv4TxydL6
Just 5 players over the last 20 seasons have hit the 30 goal plateau in under 40 team games. With his goal Friday, Alex Ovechkin's done that 3 times while no one else has done it more than once pic.twitter.com/odj7MYh07i
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) January 4, 2019
- Prior to the game we learned that Matt Niskanen and Dmitrij Jaskin would draw back into the lineup, and that there would be some line changes. [WaPo]
- T.J Oshie sat down with St. Louis media to reflect on what it means to return as a champion to the team that drafted him. [KSDK]
- Previews of tonight’s dalliance with Dallas from Vogs, NHL and Peerless and be sure to check out our SB Nation pals over at Defending Big D for the other side of tonight’s matchup.
- Hey you guys, the Caps’ scoring depth is deep. [TSN]
- It’s a dogfight at the top of the Metro. [Union & Blue]
- Everyone is still talking about Ovi’s choice to sit out the All-Star Game. Takes and takes and takes.
- Congrats to Vitek Vanecek, selected as Hershey’s representative to the AHL All-Star Weekend.
Vitek Vanecek (@vitacz15) was all smiles when he learned he was going to the 2019 Lexus #AHLAllStar Classic! #HBH pic.twitter.com/pFzMzxKxiD
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 3, 2019
- Finally, give a big Rink welcome to Ellar Dean Easton, the first baby born in 2019 in Pontiac, Illinois. Little Ellar’s first name honors his family’s Scottish ancestry and also Lars Eller’s Stanley Cup-winning goal. [Aledo Times]