Ovechkin’s in a groove

LAS VEGAS — Last spring, after another crushing postseason loss, Capitals coach Barry Trotz flew to Russia to meet with his best player.

Trotz spoke with Alex Ovechkin about his game and how it might be finetuned to prolong his career. They discussed the coming season and setting the tone in training camp for a team getting younger and undergoing a roster overhaul.

There were bumps in the road, but the end result has seen a reinvigorated Ovechkin playing an instrumental role in getting the Capitals within reach of their first Stanley Cup.

“You don’t want to be a one-trick pony in this league,” Trotz said. “The league keeps changing on you.”

Ovechkin, whose Capitals faced the expansion Golden Knights in Game 1 of the finals Monday night, scored 49 times this season after just 33 goals in 2016-17.

“The one thing that Alex CUP SCHEDULE | CAPITALS VS. GOLDEN KNIGHTS Monday in Las Vegas late Wednesday in Las Vegas 8 p.m. NBCSN Saturday in Washington 8 p.m. NBCSN Monday in Washington 8 p.m. NBC June 7 in Las Vegas 8 p.m. NBC June 10 in Washington 8 p.m. NBC June 13 in Las Vegas 8 p.m. NBC does better than anybody, maybe in the history of the game, is score goals,” Trotz said. “He has fantastic release. He plays a physical game for a pure-skill guy. There’s so many things that he has done for the game. But we talked about finding other ways to be effective.”

Ovechkin, 32, has done just that in pretty much every facet of his game.

“I try to do my best in the regular year, in the playoffs,” Ovechkin said. “Of course, in the playoffs, you don’t have tomorrow.”

Ovechkin has won the Richard Trophy seven times as the top goal scorer. He has 607 goals in 1,003 career regular-season games, 19th on the career list. Another 49 next season would tie him with Brendan Shanahan for 13th.

“He has that ability to see past the block, see past the goalie,” Trotz said. “Some of the better goal scorers in this league don’t see goalies, they just see empty spots. Guys that aren’t goal scorers, they see the goalie.”

Trotz sees a certain ease in Ovechkin.

“He’s very comfortable within our group,” Trotz said.