MOSCOW, May 14 (R-Sport) – Washington Capital superstar Alexander Ovechkin will join the Russian national team at the world hockey championship in Helsinki on Wednesday, the Russian hockey federation said Tuesday.
Ovechkin, who has scored 44 points in 55 career world championship games, will be in uniform before Russia’s quarterfinal date on Thursday with either Slovakia or the United States.
The Capitals were knocked out of the NHL playoffs on Monday after losing a seven-game series to the New York Rangers.
Ovechkin, who had 56 points in 48 games during the lockout-shortened regular season, won his third Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL top goal-scorer with 32. But the power forward was largely contained by the Rangers during the Capitals' short-lived, disappointing playoff run. He managing only one goal and one assist, with none in the final five games of the series.
The Russians, meanwhile, advanced to the world championship playoffs with a 5-2 record in the Helsinki pool.
After joining the national team with three games remaining in last year’s tournament, Ovechkin had two goals and two assists and helped the Russians beat Slovakia for the gold medal.
This year, Russia has been among the highest-scoring teams with 29 goals on 196 shots. As of Tuesday night, forward Ilya Kovalchuk leads the tournament with eight goals and 13 points. Alexander Radulov has five goals and five assists.
