Caps, Ovechkin battle from brink

TAMPA, FLA.» Alex Ovechkin has over a dozen NHL seasons under his belt, a heap of gleaming silver in his trophy case and spatters of gray in his hair. He is grizzled by the standards of his sport, accomplished beyond what most hockey players can dream.

And yet, this spring, Ovechkin had discovered a fluorescent new reality. The time of year that once brought torment provided a nightly, blissful awakening. He was 32 years old, and he was a child on his first trip to Disneyland.

He is still in maiden territory, the Eastern Conference finals, but all of a sudden it is pouring rain, the lines are long and all the rides are broken down. A week ago, it was finally the spring of Alex Ovechkin. After a fruitless two games in Washington and a mostly miserable Saturday night at Amalie Arena, it is now teeteringly close to the spring of Alex Ovechkin captaining another Washington Capitals playoff collapse, except a little closer to Memorial Day than usual.

“We just have to win two games,” Ovechkin said just past 10 p.m. Saturday, as if that is somehow a simple task. The Capitals’ season, and therefore Ovechkin’s chance at a career-validating Stanley Cup, is on the brink after the Tampa Bay Lightning held off Washington, 3-2, in Game 5.

Ovechkin blasted a puck past Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with less than two minutes left, and he played a starring role in the Capitals’ stirring, 6on-5 onslaught to end the game. But he made his impact only after an offensive disappearance. For the first 50 minutes, Ovechkin, the franchise pillar, did not put a shot on net.

If you want to know how the Capitals fared, it’s usually safe to start with Ovechkin’s line score. He scored 18.9 percent of Washington’s goals this season; the Capitals require his scoring. In Washington’s two victories in Tampa Bay to start the series, Ovechkin scored two goals and recorded two assists. In the three losses since, Ovechkin has managed only the goal he scored with 1:36 left in Game 5 and one assist.

“I don’t think they do something special,” he said.