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MCKENZIE: HUNTER NOT WORRIED ABOUT OVECHKIN'S ICE TIME

BOB MCKENZIE, The Hockey News, May 1 2012

I don't think Washington Capitals head coach Dale Hunter is going to worry about Alex Ovechkin's ice time in Game 2 Monday night, which was a low 13:36, because Hunter has one thing on his mind and that is to win hockey games and win a playoff series.

The fact of the matter is, the last four years in the playoffs Alex Ovechkin has averaged between 23-24 minutes per game. They lost in four straight games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of last year's playoffs, they lost in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round two years ago, they lost in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round three years ago, and they lost in seven games to the New York Rangers four years ago. This team has no playoff success.

Now, could Hunter minimize Ovechkin's ice time on an 82-game regular season? Not a chance in the world. Might it backfire on Hunter before this is over? It might, but if he comes out with a win and gets the Capitals to the third round of the playoffs and if Ovechkin's minutes are 13 minutes or 19 minutes – he's averaging better than 19 minutes going into Monday night's game – Hunter doesn't care. Hunter is so old school; he will do whatever it takes to win a hockey game and I don't think he's worried about his job. I don't know if he wants to come back next year, he just wants to win hockey games and he'll do it even if it ticks a lot of people off.

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Less Ovechkin leads to more success for Capitals; Kings offense shouldn't be a surprise

The Hockey News, 2012-04-30

The NHL Playoff Recap gives you THN's take of what happened in each game of the night and what the consequences will be for the rest of the series.

We also provide our Three Stars of the night, which will be tabulated after each round. First Star is three points, Second Star is two points and Third Star is one point. Be sure to vote on who you think the first star was as well.

Of course there's the other side of the coin: The Black Hole is a piece of the lineup that just couldn't get it going on a given night and contributed to a difficult evening for the team.

CAPITALS / RANGERS, GAME 2: CAPITALS 3, RANGERS 2 (SERIES TIED 1-1)

THN’s Take: All right, so let’s see if we’ve got this straight here. The Washington Capitals game plan is to play Jay Beagle more than Alex Ovechkin. And they hope to win doing that, right?

Well, whatever works for the Capitals, who have become a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma in this spring’s playoffs. Finally getting the playoff goaltending they’ve needed and treating their superstar and $10 million man like a third liner has them even with the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, the Capitals were supposed to be the best team in the Eastern Conference themselves, which is a whole other matter to dissect.

There’s little doubt that after a limp and frustrating Game 1 of their second round series, they’re running with the New York Rangers just fine. But whither Ovechkin, who played periods with ice time of 3:33, 5:41 and 4:22, but provided the Capitals with the margin of victory with a patented Ovechkin goal midway through the third period in a 3-2 win.

There were a number of observers, this corner included, who thought the Dale Hunter experiment would not end well for the Capitals. And until the Capitals squeaked into the playoffs, there was little reason to believe Hunter would fare much better in the post-season than Bruce Boudreau did before him. But where Boudreau would try to play tough love with Ovechkin, Hunter has actually gone out and done it. Same with Alex Semin, who received even less ice time than Ovechkin in Game 2. Perhaps the biggest difference between Hunter and Boudreau, aside from the emphasis on playing team defense, is that Hunter is not beholden to Ovechkin the way Boudreau was.

And Hunter has some currency here. He knows Capitals management has watched the team try to do it Ovechkin’s way in the playoffs for a couple of years and they’ve failed miserably. If giving Ovechkin less ice time and less responsibility for singlehandedly delivering victories leads the Capitals to more success, you’re not going to find too many people outside Ovechkin’s inner circle who would have a problem with that. We’ll see if that continues to work, particularly if the Capitals start struggling, but Hunter clearly knows what it takes to win playoff games.

Aside from the winning, this has not exactly been a great playoff for Ovechkin from a personal standpoint. His ice time has been cut drastically, he was called out by teammate Troy Brouwer prior to Game 2 and had as poor an outing in Game 1 as he’s had in any playoff game in his career.

But when the game was on the line and when the Capitals were one the power play, Ovechkin had the puck on his stick and made the most of his opportunity to be a difference maker. And let’s not forget that for all his offensive struggles, he’s still leading the Capitals in scoring in this year’s playoffs. And he did manage to unleash seven shots in the game, which was more than any player on either roster.

But with a team that is getting it done with defense, goaltending and team commitment that renders its stars far less important, the Capitals have never relied on Ovechkin less than they are right now.

And as crazy as that sounds, it might be what leads them to more playoff success than they’ve experienced since he entered the league.

Three Stars

1. Michael Del Zotto – His team lost, but Del Zotto was a force offensively, assisting on both Ranger goals. He also hit two crossbars in the game.

2. Braden Holtby – He didn’t have to provide his customary spectacular play, but the rookie goal was very steady in outplaying all-world Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Holtby’s stop on a Chris Kreider breakaway directly led to the Capitals taking it back and scoring to make it 2-0.

3. Alex Ovechkin – It’s not as though Ovechkin has been playing badly in the playoffs, but he certainly made the most of his limited ice time, taking shots, playing physically and being engaged on the backcheck.

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Alex Ovechkin the role player?

James Mirtle, Globe and Mail, May 1, 2012

He sat on the bench for much of the game, drawing the attention of the CBC crew covering it and those watching at home mainly for just how little he was on the ice.

Alex Ovechkin played only 18 shifts on the night, with 3:33 minutes in the first period, 5:41 in the second and 4:22 in the third.

And his 10:36 at even strength was more than only three teammates: Mike Knuble, Alex Semin and Keith Aucoin.

This is a new way of deploying a $9.5-million four-time 50-goal scorer, but it ended up paying off, with Ovechkin scoring the winning goal in Monday's Game 2 on a late game power play.

"You have to suck it up and use time what Dale is giving to me," Ovechkin said of his coach, Dale Hunter, after the game.

Ovechkin's ice time on Monday was a career low for the playoffs, but it's part of a trend under Hunter where he's kept on the bench in favour of pluggers like Jay Beagle as the Caps play a far more defensive style than we've seen since the lockout.

"Ovi is a team guy and he is cheering his guys on," Hunter said. "He knows what these guys are going through at the end of the game. They've got to go out and slide and block shots. He appreciates that.

"The one thing is that he has been real fresh for the power play."

No kidding.

As a long-term strategy, this doesn't particularly seem like the most effective one, although Ovechkin has without question had a mediocre season by his standards.

At first, this all appeared to be a motivational move by Hunter. Now, it simply seems the coach feels he has a better chance to win in the playoffs with his shot blockers on the ice.

One interesting tidbit from all this? Game 3 will mark the second most postseason games Ovechkin has played in a season in his career, matching the nine the Caps had last year when they were swept in Round 2.

His average ice time over the five playoffs he's taken part in, meanwhile, has been very consistent until now: 24:03, 23:21, 23:06, 23:30 and 19:09.

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Ovechkin makes most of limited minutes

TERRY KOSHAN, QMI AGENCY, May 1 2012

Interesting how the captains contributed, or didn’t, as Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals unfolded Monday night.

There was Rangers captain Ryan Callahan hitting everything in a Capitals sweater — in Callahan’s case, defenceman Mike Green was more or less everything — and trying to set the tone for the evening.

The Caps defencemen picked up on it as Roman Hamrlik and Karl Alzner, like Green, began hearing footsteps.

And there was Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin doing a whole lot of nothing as coach Dale Hunter used him for just 3:33 in the opening 20 minutes.

Sure, the Caps had some penalties to kill, thereby upending the flow off the bench, but it was only three, and two of those were in the final few minutes.

One of the simplest tenets in playoff hockey is that your best players have to be your best players. Hard for that to happen when your most prolific performer is spending most of the game standing at the bench or taking it one step further and dangling one leg over the boards.

But give Hunter credit — he pushed the right buttons for Ovechkin in Game 2.

If nothing else, Ovechkin has a flair for the dramatic, an ability to make a difference that most players are incapable of making.

Few of his NHL colleagues can score from 40 feet with a wrist shot, but Ovechkin did just that during a Capitals power play with less than eight minutes remaining in the third period.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was screened by teammate Ryan McDonagh and Caps forward Troy Brouwer and was unable to pick up Ovechkin’s shot, which went into the net and stood up as the winner.

In the end, Ovechkin was on the ice for a total of just 13:36 in a 3-2 Capitals victory.

But as stars can do, he made the last of those minutes count.

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Alex the Villain wins it for Caps: Ovechkin doing all he can with few minutes he has

MIKE ZEISBERGER, QMI Agency, May 1 2012

NEW YORK – It was the favoured chant of the capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden Monday night.

Cue the coutdown.

“Five … four … three … two … one … Ovie sucks! … Ovie sucks! …” they screamed in unison, mocking Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin.

For the first two periods, it seemed to be working.

But anyone familiar with Alex Ovechkin knows he loves the spotlight. In the third period, he grabbed it, much to the chagrin of the New York Rangers and their fans.

In true Ovechkin form, The Great Eight ripped the winning goal at 12:33 of the third to give the visiting Capitals a 3-2 victory. This best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal is now tied at one game apiece.

Not bad for a guy who played six minutes less than Jay Beagle.

And five minutes less than Troy Brouwer.

And two minutes less than Matt Hendricks.

Those Capitals players have never been known as superstars.

Ovechkin has.

In the minds of some, he still is.

In the end, six Capital forwards received more ice time than the 13:36 given to Ovechkin. That list, by the way, doesn't include Washington's other star sniper, Alexander Semin.

While coach Dale Hunter insisted Ovechkin’s conservative minutes were due to the Caps “rolling four lines,” it’s easy to see the dilemma that Ovechkin finds himself in.

He wants to play gobs of minutes. And he wants to win in the playoffs. Hunter doesn’t necessarily see the two going hand in hand.

Monday night, Ovechkin put on a good game face. As the clock ticked down, he smiled and yelled support to his teammates, all while his butt was nailed to the bench in favour of more defensive-minded players.

“I feel good,” Ovechkin said. “You have to suck it up and use (the) time that Dale is giving to me.

“The most important thing right now, guys, is just to win the series and win the game. If you are going to talk about my game time and all that kind of stuff, it’s not (the) season -– it’s the playoffs. It’s what I said before, you have to suck it up and play for the team.”

Notice that Ovechkin is using the term “suck it up” a lot.

Does that seem like the phrase used by a happy camper?

Yet, when you saw the way he occupied the role as the team’s lead cheerleader down the stretch, well, there certainly are mixed messages coming from Ovechkin.

“Sometimes if you’re not (in) there you feel like you’re not in the game but if you have 10 second shift or 5 second shift you just have to go there and do something. It’s kind of hard but it is what it is,” Ovechkin said.

Maybe he’s not a fan of Hunter. At the same time, Hunter’s blueprint is working, and, at least for the time being, Ovechkin is putting any potential sulking on the back burner while this Hunter-guided ride continues to be successful.

“Ovie is a team guy and he’s cheering his guys on,” Hunter said. “He knows what these guys are going through at the end of the game. They’ve got to go out and slide and block shots. He appreciates that.”

But does Ovechkin appreciate playing 10 less shifts in a game than Jay Beagle (28-18)? We doubt it.

The Caps built an early 2-0 lead Monday on goals by Mike Knuble and Jason Chimera before the Rangers clawed their way back. A Brad Richards tally in the final minute of the first period was followed by a Ryan Callahan marker in the third, setting the stage for Ovechkin’s heroics.

As for the crowd’s mockery of him, Ovechkin took it in stride. He knows very well that fans don’t abuse you like that unless you are good.

“They pay their money, they see you play, they can do what they want,” he laughed.

On this night, the Garden faithful didn’t see much of Ovechkin, but it was enough to know he still has the makeup to be a hero on any given night, Dale Hunter or no Dale Hunter.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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