NEW YORK — As Alex Ovechkin waited for a Connor McMichael pass along the boards during a second-period Washington power play Tuesday, Mika Zibanejad glided toward his opponent, waiting for a moment to strike. Before Ovechkin could settle the puck, the Rangers center seized it off his stick and sprinted toward the Capitals’ net.
“(Ovechkin) is just all of a sudden is surprised,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said after the Rangers’ 4-3 win in Game 2.
Before Ovechkin could react, Zibanejad was leading a short-handed rush. He dished to Chris Kreider after crossing into the offensive zone, then received the puck back. Finally, as he approached the crease, he whipped a puck back into the slot, where K’Andre Miller had joined the attack. The Rangers defenseman zipped a shot past Charlie Lindgren for the first short-handed goal of his career.
Instead of New York on the penalty kill up only a goal, the Rangers suddenly had a two-goal cushion. That proved necessary, as Washington pulled back within one in the third. Miller’s goal stood as the game winner.
“Big turning point,” said New York captain Jacob Trouba, his team up 2-0 in the series.
K’Andre Miller adds to New York’s lead with a beautiful shorthanded goal, 4-2 Rangers!#NYR pic.twitter.com/MnE5wNaruh
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 24, 2024
And it started with the Ovechkin turnover: The low point in a difficult night for the Washington captain.
“He looks a little bit off,” Carbery said. “He’s struggling.”
The 38-year-old Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer of his generation. Maybe ever. Rangers players raved about him going into the series. He’s one of only two opposing players from whom Zibanejad has collected a game-used stick.
And though age has slowed Ovechkin, he’s still potent. From Jan. 27 on, he had 23 goals, more than all but five players in the NHL. He ranked 10th leaguewide in shots during that span. In Washington’s final regular-season game — which it needed to win to make the playoffs — Ovechkin scored the opening tally.
But through two games against the Rangers this postseason, he has zero goals and zero points. He has only one shot on net.
“He should on a nightly basis get four or five looks, whether they go in or not,” Carbery said. “He’s not getting those looks. … We’ve got to find a way to get him in spots where it’s him and (Igor) Shesterkin within the top of the circles.”
Playing mostly against the Rangers’ top defensive pair (Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox) and best offensive line (Alexis Lafrenière, Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin), Ovechkin had only two shot attempts at five-on-five in Game 2. For comparison, he averaged 4.06 shot attempts per game at five-on-five from the All-Star break to the end of the regular season. His line (Ovechkin-McMichael-TJ Oshie) generated looks, but most didn’t come off Ovechkin’s stick. He didn’t have a single power-play shot in the game. That’s a dramatic drop-off from his 3.34 power-play shot attempts per game from the All-Star break on and a testament to the Rangers’ aggressive penalty killing.
Trailing by a goal in Game 2, the Capitals pulled goalie Charlie Lindgren for the final 2:48. With Lindgren on the bench, Dylan Strome won a faceoff back to Ovechkin. The wing tried to put a shot on net, but Barclay Goodrow blocked it. Carbery pointed to that play as an example of Ovechkin’s struggles. The Rangers are blocking his shots, and he’s not finding a way around their bodies.
“That’s where I see it’s off just a touch,” Carbery said.
The Goodrow block was almost extra costly for Washington. The puck went to Jimmy Vesey, who had an open look at the empty net but missed wide. Ovechkin proceeded to have only one more shot attempt on the six-on-five.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette has plenty of experience with Ovechkin, having coached him from 2020 to 2023 in Washington.
“He’s a player that can make a difference in a game,” he said. “We’re mindful of that and do our best to check him.”
So far it’s worked. The Rangers have suppressed his shots and, as Carbery mentioned, blocked seven of them, as shown by this Natural Stat Trick event map:
Alex Ovechkin’s event map (Natural Stat Trick)
Carbery will have more control of who Ovechkin faces off against with the series shifting to Washington, where the Capitals will have last change. He could perhaps try to target New York’s fourth line centered by Goodrow. Through the first two games, Ovechkin and Goodrow were on the ice together for 6:55 at even strength, and the Capitals had the edge in shot attempts (11-6) and scoring chances (5-2), according to Natural Stat Trick.
Matt Rempe, Goodrow’s linemate, has been on the ice for only 3:34 of even-strength time with Ovechkin, and the Capitals dominated in shot attempts (10-1) during that stretch. Carbery could try to exploit that matchup, and it could impact how Laviolette tries to deploy Rempe. The Rangers coach has already tried giving Goodrow more defensive support when he’s on the ice with Ovechkin, as shown by the difference in Rempe’s and Goodrow’s ice time against him.
Despite Ovechkin’s early series struggles, Carbery stressed that he’s confident his star can rebound. The future Hall of Famer has been in plenty of difficult situations throughout his career, after all, and has a good track record of figuring them out.
“He can flip it in one game and he can all of a sudden be a difference maker and help us win a game or be a driver in winning us a game on home ice,” Carbery said.
But if the Rangers can continue to contain Ovechkin on the road, they’ll be one step closer to eliminating a Washington club that has already looked overmatched at points this series.
(Photo: Jared Silber / NHLI via Getty Images)
