OVECHKIN STINGS LEAFS BOTH OFF AND ON THE ICE
Capitals’ superstar captain tells opponents what it takes to win, then shows them in OT
CAPITALS 4, LEAFS 3 (OT)
If the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t figure it out in the next couple of seasons — the “it” being a successful road to the Stanley Cup — perhaps they could hire Alex Ovechkin as an adviser.
Provided, of course, Ovechkin’s Hockey Hall of Fame career with the Washington Capitals comes to a premature end.
Asked on Tuesday morning about the battle scars the Capitals required to earn before winning the Cup in 2018, Ovechkin answered in regard to his own club, and then turned his thoughts to the Leafs.
Before beating the Vegas Golden Knights in the spring of ’18 to win the first Cup in team history, the Capitals lost in the second round of the playoffs in each of the previous three years.
The Leafs, convincing no one so far in 2019-20 they are a legitimate Cup contender, have been eliminated in the first round in each of the past three years.
While the Leafs had more immediate concerns after a 4-3 overtime loss on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena — they lost stalwart defenceman Jake Muzzin to injury — the words of Ovechkin, who scored a power-play goal with one minute left in overtime, rang true.
“I think it helped a lot when your core group of guys stays together and go through that, coaching staff, players,” Ovechkin said.
“You can see it took four years to realize what we have to do. We make mistakes, coaching staff makes mistakes, you get a chance to take (it to) another level, we all came together and it works.
“I think for them, they are still a young group of guys and I hope they’re going to learn. It’s up to them how they want to do it and if they want to play for yourself, or if they want to win a Stanley Cup they have to play differently.”
Harsh but fair. Call Ovechkin’s thoughts bulletin board material for the Leafs if you want, but the 34-year-old wasn’t out of line.
“There’s a veteran player who has gone through it himself, who takes a look over and sees himself,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said during his pre-game interview with TSN. “That’s what he went through. Things like that always sting way more when it’s right.”
The Leafs, now 6-5-3 to start the season, remain on a learning curve in Babcock’s fifth year as head coach.
Led by youngsters Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and captain John Tavares, defenceman Morgan Rielly and goaltender Frederik Andersen, the Leafs haven’t yet come close to reaching their full potential. Whether they do or not this season, or in the playoffs, could determine whether Babcock is back next year.
The Leafs got two goals from Matthews, but on the same night that Travis Dermott made his season debut after recovering from shoulder surgery in May, the Toronto blue line took a hard hit when Muzzin left the game in the first period.
Washington forward Tom Wilson, who has a list of NHL suspensions as long as his arm, took a healthy run at Muzzin and made contact with his right leg on Muzzin’s upper right leg. No penalty was called.
The Leafs announced as the second period started that Muzzin would not return because of a knee injury.
The loss of the physical Muzzin can’t be understated. Going into the game, the rugged veteran was among the NHL leaders in evenstrength ice time. Never mind what a Muzzin absence would mean to the room.
Ovechkin beat Andersen from tight quarters to make the score 3-3 at 4:10 of the third … Wilson crunched Tyson Barrie on the side boards early in the third and wound up taking an extra minor after the skirmish that ensued. Matthews scored his second of the game on the power play, putting Toronto up by one. Before that, the Leafs were 0-for-6 on the power play … Matthews tied the game 2-2 on a goal that only a handful NHL players can score, if that. At 19:27 of the second period, Matthews, with his back to the net, redirected a Barrie shot past Braden Holtby. Matthews gave Barrie a target with his stick as Caps defenceman Jonas Siegenthaler watched … John Carlson’s second goal of the game, at 7:59 of the second, came while the Caps were up two men and gave Washington a one-goal lead. Carlson took a few steps from the point and blasted a shot past Andersen … For just the fourth time in 14 games, the Leafs scored the opening goal. It came at 40 seconds into the first period when Andreas Johnsson snapped a shot past Holtby after being fed by Matthews … Washington tied the game at 10:47 on a smart play by Ovechkin, who whipped the puck across the ice and off the side boards. That allowed Carlson to step into the puck and fire a shot over Andersen’s right shoulder.
THE RIELLY FACTORS
Morgan Rielly has missed the past three Leafs practices with an undisclosed ailment, but has continued to suit up for games and was leading Toronto with an average of 24 minutes 46 seconds of ice time prior to Tuesday.
“Things happen,” Rielly said of his minor injury. “You deal with certain things and we have a staff in place that helps deal with that. You have to do what you have to do to be able to play. If you have to miss a couple of practices, it’s not a big deal.”
The fan in Rielly, and the player too, is quite impressed with what Ovechkin has consistently accomplished. Ovechkin recently became the fourth player in NHL history to record 250 power play goals, after Teemu Selanne (255), Brett Hull (265) and Dave Andreychuk (274).
More than a few of Ovechkin’s power play goals have come off his one-timer.
“You can do what you want (to try to take away the one-timer),” Rielly said. “You can put a guy right on him, which we have done, which teams have done against him in the past, but there is more happening on the ice than just him. They have good players out there with him. You can’t just do that and expect them not to score.
“You try to do your best, try to take away his opportunities, but the best players in the league play against the other team’s best players and they still get it done, that’s what makes them the best. That’s what he has been able to do for a long time.”
With Dermott activated from injured reserve, the Leafs sent defenceman Kevin Gravel to the Toronto Marlies. The trickier moves for the Leafs will come once Zach Hyman (knee) is cleared to return to the roster, as some contracts will have to be shed. Little-used winger Nic Petan is bound to be one. Babcock said neither Hyman nor Tavares (finger) will be ready to play in the Leafs’ next game, on Saturday against the Flyers in Philadelphia, and added: “I don’t know when I’m going to have either one. I haven’t asked because you’re not supposed to in my spot. I think John is going to be ready before Hymes, from what I’m told.” … Matthews on Muzzin and the latter’s influence from his spot on the blue line, before the injury: “I think be brings an element we were kind of missing. Big, steady defenceman but he can make plays.”