PITTSBURGH Is it the beard? Maybe its the beard maybe, free from a loathsome endorsement deal and the four years of required shaves it entailed, Alex Ovechkin has achieved a level of Zen bada sery that exists merely as theory for most of us. Maybe it was the full-scale organizational overhaul the Capitals executed during the offseason. Maybe its been years of taking darts some deserved, some not over his defensive commitment and his plus-minus and his teams postseason crash-and-burns. Maybe it was a weird form of Ovi-specific maturation. It was something, though because on Tuesday at Consol Energy Center, Ovechkin gave a daylong master cla s in Not Giving A S. Not about stuff that doesnt matter, at least. In any case, it all started at the morning skate, when he responded to Ryan Getzlafs carps about a pair of embellished slashes, and it extended all the way until, oh, about 9:55, after he scored (again) and the Capitals won (again) in Pittsburgh (again). Lets say there were five separate le sons. Le son 1 Shortly after Ovechkins four-point game against Anaheimand the Ducks sixth lo s in nine games, Getzlaf teed off about Ovechkin embellishing a slashing call. He probably did, but whatever. It happens; Getzlaf does it too, in fact. , calling the move embarra sing and saying he didnt know Ovechkin was going to dive the way he did tonight. All over the (expletive) ice. So, two days later and on the other side of the country,Ovechkin was asked about that. No response, he started out. Think of your baldest uncle, or your friends dad, Ryan Klesko Jersey or your own dad, or yourself (if you're bald). Thats Getzlaf. He is bald as hell, and Ovechkin went at it. In hindsight, it may have been tempting fate. Dudes with hair, especially with hairlines that arent quite where they used to be, probably should not say such things. But well. Maybe hes just jealous, Ovechkin said. I have hair, he dont have hair. We can start talking about it all day long. I think it was (a) comment because he was disappointed they lost. Again, it is what it is. I dont think somebody can call me (a) diver in this league, but how I said, maybe hes disappointed in all the kind of moments that happen. Getzlaf was annoyed, and that was understandable. Should that have mattered to Ovechkin? Nope and it didnt. Le son 2 By 7 p.m., it was time to actually play a game. As the rest of the country was treated to Devils-Sabres on NBC Sports, the Caps and Penguins played 18:36 of scorele s hockey then Ovechkin struck at the tail end of a power play. Caps defenseman Mike Green, after misplaying a puck at the boards, managed to chip it past Penguins forward Craig Adams and toward the middle of the ice. The puck bounced off Joel Ward and Beau Bennett as Pittsburgh tried to change, then to Ovechkin, who had a clear path to the net. It ended how youd expect; Ovechkin went backhand to beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his 37th goal of the season. noted, he needs eight more to join Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bo sy and Marcel Dionne as the only players in NHL history with seven 45-goal seasons. If you can bet on that happening, you should. Ovechkins job is to score goals, and he does that as well as anyone. Le son 3 Early in the third period, during a 1-1 game, Ovechkin slashed Kris Letang. It was a nasty two-hander, and he shouldve been penalized after the game, both he and Capitals coach Barry Trotz disagreed, but more on that later. The outcome was ugly and couldve been worse; Letang lost his balance and skidded into the boards hard enough to leave the game and make you wonder whether it was Ovechkins stick or the Consol Energy Center boards that did the damage. The Penguins, understandably, were angry about that. While the medical staff was dealing with Letang (whod return shortly), Chris Kunitz came after Ovechkin with some cro schecks. He laughed (via ): Ovechkins reasoning was simple enough, if not entirely correct: If it was a dirty hit, Id have (fought Kunitz). He didnt think it was, so he did something else. Then he crushed Kunitz in the corner. Le son4 A few minutes later the refs had fully lost control of the game, which was, again, not Ovechkins problem a jacka s in the stands tried to succeed where Kunitz failed, by wasting $10 of beer on Ovechkins head. The actual to s wasnt caught on video, but rest a sured, it happened. Heres some of the aftermath. It does not include Ovechkin climbing the gla s to strangle anyone, which wouldve been an understandable response. Again, the s . . . Ovechkin does not give it. "He was probably thirsty anyway, Trotz said. Equipment manager Greg Smith, by the way, got nailed with some shrapnel. Next time hit my mouth not my shirt, he tweeted. Le son 5 After the Letang slash, and with a major a sist from the refs, the Penguins managed to come undone without actually getting any sort of revenge on Ovechkin. They were called for six penalties. Some were deserved, some werent. Other stuff, on both sides, was mi sed. Its tough you want to win the game, and you dont want to do anything thats going to put you down, Adams said. Unfortunately, we ended up doing that. The end result was Ovechkin a sisting on Ward's5-on-3 goal with 2:07 remaining. A 2-1 Caps lead eventually matured into a 3-1 Caps win. Afterward, there was a lot of talk in both locker rooms about the officiating, largely through the lens of the Letang slash. The Penguins thought it was a mi sed call, but didnt give much beyond that. Im not going to sit here and talk about the officiating, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. Weve got to find a way to win games. I mean, you score one goal a game and youre not going to give yourself a great chance to win either. So weve got to look in the mirror a bit, too. Ovechkin stuck to his story: He was trying to make a play on the puck as Letang retreated toward Fleury, and he didn't have to apologize further, because Letang returned to the game. I didnt think it was a penalty. The puck was in front of his feet, I take a shot, and thats it. His coach did, too, saying that Ovechkin was trying to push the puck toward the net, and that overall it was a non-i sue. Thats not even his game, Trotz said. Hes leading the league in goal-scoring. Maybe it is his game, though in a way, at least. Maybe he's managed to unburdenhimself fromexpectations. Maybe, with a team full of young, talented forwards, and a deep-at-last group of defensemen, and a tuned-upgoalie, he realizes that the franchise's future is as bright as it's been since 2010.Or, maybe he just had a greatday. In any case, Alex Ovechkin's Tuesday productive, entertaining, succe sful and under control in the ways that actually matter was something to behold.Let's say it wasbecause of the beard. Tyler Robertson Jersey
PITTSBURGH Is it the beard? Maybe its the beard maybe, free from a loathsome endorsement deal and the four years of required shaves it entailed, Alex Ovechkin has achieved a level of Zen bada sery that exists merely as theory for most of us. Maybe it was the full-scale organizational overhaul the Capitals executed during the offseason. Maybe its been years of taking darts some deserved, some not over his defensive commitment and his plus-minus and his teams postseason crash-and-burns. Maybe it was a weird form of Ovi-specific maturation. It was something, though because on Tuesday at Consol Energy Center, Ovechkin gave a daylong master cla s in Not Giving A S. Not about stuff that doesnt matter, at least. In any case, it all started at the morning skate, when he responded to Ryan Getzlafs carps about a pair of embellished slashes, and it extended all the way until, oh, about 9:55, after he scored (again) and the Capitals won (again) in Pittsburgh (again). Lets say there were five separate le sons. Le son 1 Shortly after Ovechkins four-point game against Anaheimand the Ducks sixth lo s in nine games, Getzlaf teed off about Ovechkin embellishing a slashing call. He probably did, but whatever. It happens; Getzlaf does it too, in fact. , calling the move embarra sing and saying he didnt know Ovechkin was going to dive the way he did tonight. All over the (expletive) ice. So, two days later and on the other side of the country,Ovechkin was asked about that. No response, he started out. Think of your baldest uncle, or your friends dad, Ryan Klesko Jersey or your own dad, or yourself (if you're bald). Thats Getzlaf. He is bald as hell, and Ovechkin went at it. In hindsight, it may have been tempting fate. Dudes with hair, especially with hairlines that arent quite where they used to be, probably should not say such things. But well. Maybe hes just jealous, Ovechkin said. I have hair, he dont have hair. We can start talking about it all day long. I think it was (a) comment because he was disappointed they lost. Again, it is what it is. I dont think somebody can call me (a) diver in this league, but how I said, maybe hes disappointed in all the kind of moments that happen. Getzlaf was annoyed, and that was understandable. Should that have mattered to Ovechkin? Nope and it didnt. Le son 2 By 7 p.m., it was time to actually play a game. As the rest of the country was treated to Devils-Sabres on NBC Sports, the Caps and Penguins played 18:36 of scorele s hockey then Ovechkin struck at the tail end of a power play. Caps defenseman Mike Green, after misplaying a puck at the boards, managed to chip it past Penguins forward Craig Adams and toward the middle of the ice. The puck bounced off Joel Ward and Beau Bennett as Pittsburgh tried to change, then to Ovechkin, who had a clear path to the net. It ended how youd expect; Ovechkin went backhand to beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his 37th goal of the season. noted, he needs eight more to join Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bo sy and Marcel Dionne as the only players in NHL history with seven 45-goal seasons. If you can bet on that happening, you should. Ovechkins job is to score goals, and he does that as well as anyone. Le son 3 Early in the third period, during a 1-1 game, Ovechkin slashed Kris Letang. It was a nasty two-hander, and he shouldve been penalized after the game, both he and Capitals coach Barry Trotz disagreed, but more on that later. The outcome was ugly and couldve been worse; Letang lost his balance and skidded into the boards hard enough to leave the game and make you wonder whether it was Ovechkins stick or the Consol Energy Center boards that did the damage. The Penguins, understandably, were angry about that. While the medical staff was dealing with Letang (whod return shortly), Chris Kunitz came after Ovechkin with some cro schecks. He laughed (via ): Ovechkins reasoning was simple enough, if not entirely correct: If it was a dirty hit, Id have (fought Kunitz). He didnt think it was, so he did something else. Then he crushed Kunitz in the corner. Le son4 A few minutes later the refs had fully lost control of the game, which was, again, not Ovechkins problem a jacka s in the stands tried to succeed where Kunitz failed, by wasting $10 of beer on Ovechkins head. The actual to s wasnt caught on video, but rest a sured, it happened. Heres some of the aftermath. It does not include Ovechkin climbing the gla s to strangle anyone, which wouldve been an understandable response. Again, the s . . . Ovechkin does not give it. "He was probably thirsty anyway, Trotz said. Equipment manager Greg Smith, by the way, got nailed with some shrapnel. Next time hit my mouth not my shirt, he tweeted. Le son 5 After the Letang slash, and with a major a sist from the refs, the Penguins managed to come undone without actually getting any sort of revenge on Ovechkin. They were called for six penalties. Some were deserved, some werent. Other stuff, on both sides, was mi sed. Its tough you want to win the game, and you dont want to do anything thats going to put you down, Adams said. Unfortunately, we ended up doing that. The end result was Ovechkin a sisting on Ward's5-on-3 goal with 2:07 remaining. A 2-1 Caps lead eventually matured into a 3-1 Caps win. Afterward, there was a lot of talk in both locker rooms about the officiating, largely through the lens of the Letang slash. The Penguins thought it was a mi sed call, but didnt give much beyond that. Im not going to sit here and talk about the officiating, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. Weve got to find a way to win games. I mean, you score one goal a game and youre not going to give yourself a great chance to win either. So weve got to look in the mirror a bit, too. Ovechkin stuck to his story: He was trying to make a play on the puck as Letang retreated toward Fleury, and he didn't have to apologize further, because Letang returned to the game. I didnt think it was a penalty. The puck was in front of his feet, I take a shot, and thats it. His coach did, too, saying that Ovechkin was trying to push the puck toward the net, and that overall it was a non-i sue. Thats not even his game, Trotz said. Hes leading the league in goal-scoring. Maybe it is his game, though in a way, at least. Maybe he's managed to unburdenhimself fromexpectations. Maybe, with a team full of young, talented forwards, and a deep-at-last group of defensemen, and a tuned-upgoalie, he realizes that the franchise's future is as bright as it's been since 2010.Or, maybe he just had a greatday. In any case, Alex Ovechkin's Tuesday productive, entertaining, succe sful and under control in the ways that actually matter was something to behold.Let's say it wasbecause of the beard. Tyler Robertson Jersey