Photo credit: Bruce Bennett

I appreciate the gesture, but I’d really rather not have my team’s $10-million superstar throwing his body in front of ballistic vulcanized rubber. – RMNB game 6 recap

Washington’s one surviving newspaper beat writer, Katie Carrera, dropped this bomb on Thursday afternoon:

Alex Ovechkin played the final two games of the Capitals’ first-round series against New York with a hairline fracture in his left foot, according to a league source with direct knowledge of the winger’s injury.

Ovechkin reportedly sustained the injury blocking shots during the first period of game six. We wrote about it at the time.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

In games six and seven, Ovechkin scored no points and recorded just six shots on goal.

Despite the injury, which will require only rest to heal, Alex Ovechkin played for his country at the World Championship in Helsinki. Despite scoring an goal and an assist in his only game with Team Russia, Ovechkin was eliminated from the tournament.

The injury reveals a sometimes-hidden truth. Shot-blocking, while considered a sign of commitment, is often dangerous or reckless move.  In order to stop a low-risk shot by Ryan McDonagh (whose lifetime shooting percentage is a lowly 5.2%), Ovechkin actually hurt his team by impairing the skating ability of its best player.

Not a good trade.

Photo credit: championat.com

Alex Ovechkin flew for approximately ten hours to Helsinki with the intention of helping the Russian national team win the 2013 World Championships. Jet-lagged, he did what he could, scoring a goal and recording an assist against the United States during their quarterfinals game on Thursday. That help was not nearly enough, as the defending champions suffered their worst defeat ever in a World Championship game, a 8-3 loss to the United States. After half a year in the KHL, a shortened NHL season, a too-short playoff run, and a single game at Worlds, Ovechkin’s season is now officially over.

Ovechkin, who spoke to Sovetsky Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov after the game and had his words later translated by Puck Daddy’s Dmitry Chesnokov, was disappointed.

“We lost due to egregious mistakes in the neutral zone, even though we talked about it [beforehand],” Ovechkin said to Lysenkov. “This is carelessness. We could have saved the game when it was 2-1, but we made even more mistakes. The Americans didn’t play super hockey. But we can’t make mistakes.”

“Don’t compare [the loss] to Vancouver,” Ovechkin said, referring to Russia’s collapse to Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics. “It’s different here. I do not regret coming [here], although it’s a shame how it turned out.”

Ilya Kovalchuk added, according to Chesnokov, that Russia “s&*$ their pants,” a reference Ovi used after the Capitals lost to the Rangers in game seven.

Ovechkin’s goal was predictably beautiful. As the Great Eight skated down the right wing, he sniped a shot past John Gibson’s left shoulder and the post.

Ovi’s goal is at the 1:05 mark.

But Russia’s breakdowns in the third period were too much to overcome. Ovechkin, disappointed, was named Russia’s best player after the game. In 20:31 of ice time, he had 8 shots on goal, and two near misses.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

Photos

All photos via championat.com

View the rest of championat.com’s slideshow.

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.

First, Ovi brutally knocked over Rangers defenseman John Moore in open ice.

Next, like a heat-seeking missile, Ovechkin crunches a leaning-over Ryan McDonagh in the shoulders, knocking him hard into the boards.

Finally, Ovi rattled Steve Eminger along the boards.

GIFs by welshhockeyfan

All in all, Ovechkin was credited with seven hits in period one. The New York Rangers had 21 in total.

Skating in just the second NHL game of his career, Tom Wilson immediately saw his role on the team expanded. Wilson got a lot more ice time and more of the same with: big hits and strong skating.

For the most part, at least. Wilson lost a skate blade after a collision with Ryan McDonagh and had to hobble his hulking frame back to the bench like a goofball.

GIFs

The blade falls off, see bottom right corner of the screen. (GIF by welshhockeyfan)

Ouch. (GIF by welshhockeyfan)

The struggle. (GIF by welshhockeyfan)

Wilson Laughs. (GIF by welshhockeyfan)

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.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

Video

Via Fedor

You can tell he’s been practicing.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

Henrik Lundqvist is dreamy and one hell of a goaltender. But tonight, you can’t help but feel sorry for the 31-year-old Swede, after stopping 33 Capitals shots and falling just short in overtime.

Oh wait, who am I kidding? No, I don’t. Enjoy the GIF.

@russianmachine Kolzig would have broken his.

— Puckhead’s Thoughts (@pckhdsthghts) May 11, 2013

Mathieu Perreault may get all the attention for his post-game #PerryCellys, but don’t sleep on Joel Ward, who couldn’t stop jumping on the bench after Mike Ribeiro’s clutch game-winning goal in overtime of game five.

JUMP! JUMP!

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.

When the check happened, I didn’t think much of it. Ovi takes a hundred blows like this every season, and usually he skates right through it. After this hit, however, Ovi struggled to get up, labored to his skates, and when he winded up to shoot later in the shift, his wrist shot lacked its normal zip.

Since the hit, Ovechkin has zero points, three shots on goal, and two hits. He has been a non-factor in the last five periods. In the two games before that, Ovechkin had one goal, one assist, 12 shots, and 12 hits. That’s a big difference in play.

Of course, Ovi’s struggles could easily be the result of other things. In games one and two, when Washington got the final line change, Ovechkin was matched up against Dan Girardi just 73.7% of the time. In games three and four in Manhattan, Ovechkin was matched by Girardi 80% of the time. Tactics have surely changed as well, and the Caps spent 2 more minutes killing penalties (when Ovi is not on ice) in games three and four.

While there are a number of factors that could explain Ovi’s lack of luster in New York, a guy who should know, defenseman Ryan McDonagh, said Ovechkin looked “tired.”

Ovechkin takes a lot of punishment. Brad Richards slashed him at the end of game three (see the headline photo). Taylor Pyatt nailed Ovi at center ice in the first period of game four.

Also in game four, Girardi hit Ovechkin sturdily along the boards.

That’s not a complete list. Ovechkin’s been hit a lot. Playing him physically is certainly the Rangers’ game plan, and it appears to be working. It is possible Ovechkin is playing through some pain, and he may have a real injury we won’t know about until locker clear-out day. Maybe not. Either way, it’s apparent that Ovi has not been at 100% in the last two games, and the Caps depend on him dearly to succeed.

Photo credit: Kathy Willens

In Braden Holtby‘s first full season in the NHL, he dominated, proving that his great play in years past wasn’t a flash in the pan. He may very well be the long-term solution in net for the Washington Capitals, and the first guy to carry the load in net since Olie Kolzig left nearly a decade ago. But there are parts of Holtby’s game that are still raw, and tonight, that may have cost the Capitals the game.

New York dominated the first period, but Washington almost got out unscathed. That is until Holtby played a loose puck at the left circle. Instead of going the safe route and dumping the puck up the boards to a teammate, Braden decided to sauce a pass through the middle of the ice. The puck did not reach its intended target. Instead, it was whacked down by Taylor Pyatt and eventually shot into an empty net by Brad Richards.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

Holtby’s skill at playing the puck is so strong that he is sometimes considered a seventh defenseman by his teammates, and he has even tallied primary assists on goals this season. But he needs to pick his spots better, and he needs to rid his game of stuff like this– just like he did that pokecheck that once gave Thomas Vanek an easy win in overtime.

On Wednesday, Holtby made 30 saves, good for a .882 save percentage, and made several ten-bell stops, including denying Derek Stepan on a breakaway.

To the splits! (GIF by welshhockeyfan)

The rest of this series will be decided by the team that makes fewer mistakes. If the Capitals can win this best-of-three series, they will need Holtby to not have any more breakdowns like tonight. Goals are hard to come by when Henrik Lundqvist is in the other net, and when the opponent can open the game with a layup, that’s more than just a one-goal hole to dig out of– it’s a blow to the team’s confidence.

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.

GIF by welshhockeyfan.

With about a minute and a half left in the first period, the Caps’ second power play unit took the puck up ice. Martin Erat attempted to dump the puck in, but it rattled around the endboards before falling into the lap of Derek Stepan. Racing up the ice, Stepan found himself on a partial breakaway, with Erat pressing him from behind. Alex Ovechkin made himself known as well, flying in to break up the play. Ovi clipped Stepan, getting tangled in the Ranger’s stick as he went. With Erat glued to Stephan, the three skaters violently tumbled to ice. Erat landed on his hand before sliding into Washington’s net. He stayed there, in too much pain to move.

Then the refs decided they’d make things worse for the Caps: Erat was given a soft hooking minor and Ovechkin, inexplicably, was assessed a penalty for charging. Ovi didn’t leave his feet or even really deliver a check. He just ran into the dude carrying the puck and happened to get him caught in his stick. Running into the guy with the puck is usually encouraged in the NHL.

Pierre McGuire, who is an idiot, called Ovechkin out for a headshot. But, since you are not an idiot, you can see that the point of contact was in fact Stephan’s left forearm.

Erat did not return.

Ouch. (Photo credit: Chris Gardner)