WASHINGTON, D.C. - A massage and a message.
Could that be the answer?
What’s going to transform Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin from jittery superstar to impact player in time for Saturday night’s now-crucial Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal with the Montreal Canadiens?
It was a miserable Game 1 for Ovechkin, who was held shotless for just the second time this season (just the fourth time in the regular season or post-season in his career), looked seriously out of sorts and was chastized by Caps coach Bruce Boudreau after the 3-2 overtime loss Thursday night to the eighth-seeded Canadiens.
What could Boudreau do to calm his nervous captain?
“Give him a massage? I don’t know,” said Boudreau. “Just tell him to relax and play the game.”
A simple remedy, perhaps, for what is blossoming into a complex problem for the Caps.
What is wrong with their captain? Is the weight of that single “C” a factor?
“I don’t think when I’m on the ice that I’m the captain and I have to do something differently. I just have to play better. I don’t know why but last game I didn’t feel that power or something, I don’t know what,” said Ovechkin.
“Maybe it was the first game and before the game I said everybody is nervous, shaky and too excited. This is the playoffs and this is a fun time.”
It’s like if he repeats that last part enough, he will actually begin to believe it.
The Canadiens defended Ovechkin well by getting veteran defenceman Jaroslav Spacek on the ice against him as much as they could, but, really, it was a team effort against him.
Boudreau hasn’t worried about matchups against Ovechkin and said he’s not going to start now.
“He’s been played like this. It’s not a secret. Everybody plays against him like this. The deal is when he’s on top of his game, it doesn’t matter how they’re playing against him. That’s the way we’ve looked at it for the 2-1/2 years I’ve been here,” he said. “We don’t try and get him away from matchups because if he’s on top of his game, it doesn’t matter who he’s playing against."
Boudreau had a pithy assessment following Game 1.
“He didn’t play good,” Boudreau said. “I can’t put my finger on it right now, but when you get nearly 50 shots on goal and Ovechkin doesn’t get any, and you have four power plays, there’s something. They took him away. But I didn’t think he was very good.”
Ovechkin was owning it.
“It’s not about Montreal,” said Ovechkin, “it’s all about me.”
He took Boudreau’s critique as a challenge.
“Yeah, when coach says those kinds of things you have to change something. I’m going to change and most of the guys are going to change because I think lots of guys didn’t play their game last night.”
Ovechkin has his personal trainer here - as he has for the last two playoffs - but Boudreau emphasized the trainer’s presence is for preparation and not because of injury.
“I heard a couple of people say last night he might be playing hurt. No, we’re making excuses for him. He just didn’t have a great game.” said Boudreau. “Every human being, no matter how good you are, sometimes doesn’t have a great game. I think we should leave it at that and see how he goes the rest of the series.”
It is, after all, but one game.
There’s still plenty of time for this to have a happy ending for Ovechkin and the Caps.
chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca
