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Alex Ovechkin has been the consistent driver of the Washington Capitals for nearly two decades — especially in the Stanley Cup Playoffs — but The Great Eight was in the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons during Tuesday night’s Game 2 loss to the New York Rangers.
Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet for the second straight game in a 4-3 defeat at Madison Square Garden. He was also unable to corral a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone during a Caps man advantage late in the second period, allowing the Blueshirts to break in and eventually score the game-winning goal — and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
The 38-year-old is a beast in the playoffs, there’s no doubt about that. But the mistake was critical, and his play in the series hasn’t thrilled his head coach.
“I thought the first two games looks a little bit off,” Spencer Carbery admitted, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
“He’s struggling. It’s hard. It’s the playoffs on the road, he’s getting a tough matchup. But it’s two games. We’re going back home now. We’ll get an opportunity to be able to control the matchup for him and he can flip it. That’s one thing about ‘O.’ He can flip it in one game and now he can all of a sudden be a difference-maker and help us win a game or be a driver in winning us a game on home ice.”
Carbery clearly has faith in No. 8, and hopes the criticism will help light a fire that will result in success ahead of a must-win Game 3. They say you aren’t in trouble until you lose at home, and if Washington doesn’t find a way at Capital One Arena on Friday night, this one’s over.
Alex Ovechkin held off scoresheet again in tough defeat
Ovechkin didn’t shy away from the costly second period mistake: “I have to play safer, especially in that kind of moment.”
“We all know we can play against this team,” he added, per Gulitti. “It was mistakes, a bad bounce off the boards, and we just have to stick together. It’s not going to be easy for us, and it’s not going to be easy for them as well.”
Ovechkin was exceptional down the stretch for the Capitals after a slow start to the 2023-24 campaign. The veteran scored 23 goals over his final 36 contests — after finding the back of the net just eight times over the first 43 — to help Washington secure the final wildcard berth in the East.
The first-round was never going to be easy, and that’s especially true against a Rangers team that just captured its first President’s Trophy since 2015. But Ovi shows up in the playoffs, and if there’s anyone on that roster that can drag this squad back into the series, it’s the career 72-goal postseason scorer.
“Ovechkin is also a proven playoff performer. His 72 postseason goals are second among active NHL players, one behind Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars,” wrote Gulitti. “That includes the 15 he scored in 2018, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs after leading Washington to its first Stanley Cup championship.”
Despite that, Ovechkin has been held off the scoresheet in both Game 1 and 2, and if that continues, the team has no chance to pull off the massive upset.
“Whether that’s a product of his matchup, whether that’s a product of his line combination, whether he’s played a role in that, we’ve got to find a way to get him in spots where it’s him and [Igor] Shesterkin and he’s within the top of the circles,” Carbery reflected regarding his best player.
“The second thing that I see is his shot gets blocked. That’s where I see, ‘OK, it’s off just a touch.’ … But he’ll be good. He’s been through so many situations like this, I expect him to step up big time in Game 3.”
It’ll be intriguing to see which Alex Ovechkin shows up this weekend when the series shifts back to the nation’s capital.
More must-reads:
- NHL announces finalists for 2024 Lady Byng Trophy
- Pius Suter's late goal sends Canucks to second round
- The 'MLB Rookies of the Year' quiz
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