Semin off to hot start with six goals in first five games
It was a given entering the NHL season that Alex would lead the Capitals in scoring.
After all, Alex Ovechkin is the reigning Hart Trophy winner as league MVP, setting an NHL record with 65 goals by a left wing in 2007-08.
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Well, after five games an Alex indeed leads the Caps (3-1-1) — and the entire NHL — in points. But it isn’t Ovechkin. Instead, left wing Alex Semin is off to the hot start for Washington with six goals and four assists. He is second in the league in goals and tied for first with Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin in points (10). Meanwhile, Ovechkin has just three points. The gap between them probably won’t last. But the Caps would be thrilled if Semin kept pace with his teammate all season.
“Right now [Semin] is hitting behind — if this was a baseball analogy — [Ovechkin]. So Alex [Ovechkin] is getting all the attention from every best pair of defensemen,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau after Saturday’s shootout loss to New Jersey. “And that’s what great balance does. If one won’t beat you the other will. Hopefully at one point both of them are scoring and we’ll be a difficult team to beat.”
