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Photo credit: ABC7′s @BrittMcHenry
Is Alex Ovechkin frustrated with how the season ended? I don’t know, you tell me. Ovi wore a pretty expressive Nike shirt today during his final meeting with the press.
“It’s just what I already pick from my closet,” Ovi said with a frown when asked about his attire.
Additional reporting by Chris Gordon.
Yet again. (Photo credit: USA Today)
Alex Ovechkin sat on the bench, glaring down at the ice with his head between his hands. He looked defeated, because he was. His sixth visit to the Stanley Cup Playoffs was about to end in another disappointing loss, after another year failing to meet expectations.
After the game, Ovi stood in front the white board at the far end of the Capitals locker room and went off.
I am not saying there was a phone call from [the NHL], but someone just wanted Game 7. For the ratings; you know, the lockout, escrow, the league needs to make profit.
Photo was touched up to remove the NHL executive handshake-passing the ref a 100-dollar bill. (Photo credit: Greg Fiume)
With their 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers in game seven, the Washington Capitals have been ungently booted from the postseason again. A period of healing and reconciliation now begins (also probably some suntans), but first we need to take a look at the sadness. The infinite, infinite sadness.
Let’s just take it all in, mope around for the next day or two like red-rocking Eeyores, and wallow in the wah wah wah (that’s what a sad trombone sounds like). It’s not fun; no, but we need to give the grieving process time to do its thing.
Hit play before watching the GIFs.
It’s game seven. It’s do or die. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin isn’t going to stand idly by as his team’s season hangs in the balance.
With 11:38 left in the first period, Ovechkin stepped out on the ice for a shift, and it was inspiring. Ovechkin laid out three New York Rangers players with big hits and left the ice to a roaring standing ovation from the sold out Verizon Center crowd.
Let’s recap.
A few days ago, a funny GIF of Alex Ovechkin was passed around the internet, showing Ovi slumping his shoulders after some defensive breakdowns down low led to a lay-up goal by Stepan. Then Deadspin published an article titled Alexander Ovechkin Would Prefer Not To Play Defense, which Peter and Alan May debunked pretty thoroughly.
While no one is saying he’s Pavel Datsyuk, Ovechkin plays some hard defense when needed. Example: game six, when Ovi blocked a couple of shots in a short burst– laying his body down in the effort.
Photo by Tom Turk | tomturk.com | piraticalphotography.com
Third line checker Joel Ward isn’t usually on the power play, but last night in the second period head coach Adam Oates played a hunch on the Capitals first extra-man advantage of the game.
“My name was called and I just went out there,” Ward said after the game. “I was excited to be out there. I just tried to pay attention to the details and get in my spot.”
In a surprise to absolutely no one, unless you were to time-travel back to February– in case it would be a surprise to everyone, Alex Ovechkin has been named a finalist for the Hart Trophy, awarded each year to the player deemed most valuable to his team by a bunch of snooty professional hockey writers with their cocky strides and musky odors.
Ovechkin scored a league-high 32 goals in 2013 and added another 24 assists. His shot total (4.6 shots a game) was a bounce back from recent years. Plus he got to grow facial hair again.
The two other finalists are NYI’s John Tavares and Sidney Crosby.
The Hart Trophy winner will be announced in Las Vegas this summer.
Ovi reacts after being slashed by Brad Richards in the third period of game three. (Photo credit: Bruce Bennett)
A few summers ago, Alex Ovechkin did an interview with Mike Vogel where he slouched. I didn’t think it was a big deal. A few screenshots later, Ovi’s bulging belly was the topic du jour and commenters everywhere opined about the Russian machine’s new chubbiness. The whole Fat Gate thing was ridiculous to me, because if you’ve ever seen Ovechkin, you’ve noticed how strong his core area is. It sticks out past his chest. It’s one of the reasons why Ovechkin’s such a physical player and has such explosiveness in his strides.
But since Ovechkin absorbed a crushing hip check from Anton Stralman to his leg, hip, and core in the first period of game three, he hasn’t been quite the same player.
Photo credit: Scott Levy
Okay, the subject line is a joke, but some people are being silly about Derek Stepan‘s game-winning goal last night. They’re saying it was Alex Ovechkin‘s fault– that his laziness on defense is a problem.
Here’s how it really went down.
After a long shift in the defensive zone, Marcus Johansson failed to clear the zone and pass to Alex Ovechkin, who was skating toward Lundqvist at center ice. A scramble for the puck ensued, and Stepan scored from the weak side. Ovechkin skated lazily towards Stepan as it happened.
Bad visual, but that’s all.
Erat lies on the ice after colliding with Ovechkin and Stepan. (Photo credit: Bruce Bennett)
The Washington Capitals power play was very good this season; they scored a lot of goals on it. In the first period of game 4 on Thursday Night, though, it was very bad — so bad that the Rangers had more shorthanded chances than the Caps had shots on goal. One of those opportunities for New York was rather disastrous for Washington.
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