As Evgeny Kuznetsov took the pass from Alex Ovechkin and steamrolled toward Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray five minutes into overtime, Ovechkin said he thought to himself, “Just (blanking) score, please.”
He was pleading — almost begging — for his fellow Russian to save him.
Save him from a career defined as much by what he had not accomplished as by what he had. Save him from the baggage weighing him down — the burden of individual trophies and honors that only served to remind everyone of what was missing from his resume.
The distance between the Stanley Cup and the greatest goal scorer of his era seemed to grow each year with every early Capitals playoff exit.