Ovechkin turns away the false narratives
The headlines were already coming into focus, like rubbing invisible ink and seeing the dark type start to emerge.
The Washington Capitals were going to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games, their season was going to end in the second round again, and Alex Ovechkin was going to be in the spotlight.
“It’s not good,” NBC’s Mike Milbury said of Ovechkin’s performance during the second intermission Saturday night, when the Caps trailed Pittsburgh and the end seemed near. “This is the third consecutive game where the Great Eight has just reduced his name to Average Eight. This is not a great player that we’re watching here.
“This is a player that can’t find his way, looks to be totally consumed by his own thoughts. ... This is not good enough from Alex Ovechkin, and some of it comes from a lack of effort. Maybe he’s overthinking, but he’s running out of time.”
We all knew this was coming if the Caps flamed out again, and not just from NBC’s longtime Caps antagonist. Ovechkin can’t put a team on his shoulders. Ovechkin will never match Sidney Crosby’s team accomplishments. Maybe those unfair headlines will come back Monday or Wednesday night, if the Caps lose to the Penguins in Game 6 or 7. But they’re not here yet.
And that’s thanks in part to Ovechkin, who late in the game did what he does better than anyone who has played this sport: take a puck and, by force of will, deposit it in a net. He blasted a shot off defenceman Ron Hainsey, collected the rebound, and then blasted it past Marc-André Fleury.
The goal again put the lie to that annual (and inaccurate) complaint: that Ovechkin disappears in big moments. In his 19 career games facing playoff elimination, Ovechkin now has 10 goals and 10 assists. In 18 career playoff games against the rival Penguins, he has 12 goals and 14 assists — better production than his absurd regularseason averages.
This is the second straight year the Caps have come home trailing the Pens 3-1 with their season on the line.
Before Saturday, Ovechkin’s most prominent moments in this series had been less than ideal: the much-scrutinized hack at Crosby just before Pittsburgh’s star was concussed in Game 2, and the latest move to Washington’s third line before the desperation Game 5.
“It’s a big demotion,” NBC’s Jeremy Roenick said before the game.
This was late-career Tchaikovsky putting on a concert at the Warrenton Elks Lodge. Ovechkin’s reaction?
“Right now it’s not a good time to talk about ‘Well, I’m gonna play less, or I’m gonna play more,’” he said after Game 5. “We’re here to get results and we’re here to get successful as a team, not individual.”
Saturday night, Ovechkin received fewer than 18 minutes of ice time, just sixth among Washington forwards.
In the third period, when he hit a post, put his legs in front of a Pittsburgh slap shot, and created an insurance goal, virtually by himself. It gave his team another chance to stay alive and Ovechkin another chance to stave off those darkening headlines, the ones about asterisks and legacies.
But no one will care if he doesn’t do it again on Monday. No one will care if his team doesn’t come along with him.
Milbury was right about one thing in his intermission rant: Ovechkin is running out of time. His career doesn’t deserve an asterisk. The Capitals somehow winning this series would go a long way to making that asterisk disappear.