Ovechkin scores respect in Leafs’ dressing room
Capitals star ‘ best scorer of this generation’
TORONTO • Just call him Ovie-Wan Kenobi.
The reverence in which Alex Ovechkin is held by many NHL players, Russian or otherwise, is recognized whenever the Washington Capitals come to town.
For the Maple Leafs, that’s Saturday night — and his countrymen can’t wait to test themselves against the Great Eight. Before the Caps’ game Friday against Buffalo, Ovechkin had a hat trick against St. Louis. His first two goals gave the six-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner 110 multi- goal games, the most since 1995 in a league he has only been part of since 2006.
“I watched him probably every day as a kid,” rookie winger Nikita Soshnikov said Friday. “I didn’t watch every NHL game he was in, but tried to watch every highlight.
“He’s a special player. Every Russian- league guy would be excited to play against him.”
Defenceman Nikita Zaitsev has been with Ovechkin on the national team and at the most recent World Cup before the 25-year-old made the jump to the NHL.
“He’s a good personality, first of all,” Zaitsev said. “There are only good words I can say about him.
“Before I came here, he gave me some good advice and he’s a big help to the Russian guys in Washington (Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov). It makes them feel more comfortable.”
As captain, Ovechkin made current Leafs defenceman Connor Carrick feel at home when he broke in with Washington in 2013-14.
“He plays the game with a lot of passion, a lot of fun and that’s contagious when you’re around him,” Carrick recalled. “They were a pretty light group. Him, Jason Chimera, Joel Ward, they were hilarious and so were the Russians. They all had a lot of fun. That’s something you remember.”
The year Carrick played 34 games for the Caps was one of Ovechkin’s seven 50-plusgoal seasons.
“It was cool to be in that organization when he was doing that. I had a lot of texts from friends — ‘ OMG, you had an assist on No. 8’s goal.’ It’s great to be a small part of that story.”
But don’t expect Carrick or NHL hits leader Matt Martin to stand by and let Ovechkin build on his 32 career goals against Toronto that have come on just 199 shots.
“You have to be physical on him, but he’s not one to shy away from it either,” noted Martin. “He’s a big body, 240 pounds. And when he hits, it hurts. But we have to be hard on him.”
Depending on matchups, fourth- liner Martin might not get many 1-on-1 encounters against Ovechkin, but the Caps and Martin’s old team, the Islanders, have clashed dozens of times the past few years.
“He’s probably the best scorer of this generation of players,” said Martin.
Washington won all three meetings against Toronto last season, but defenceman Morgan Rielly says this is a different Leafs team than the one that used 40-plus players last season. “We’re confident with the group we have,” Rielly said.