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Convincing the World He's Convinced |
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Ovechkin Wants to Win, No Matter What
Alex Ovechkin led all Washington forwards in ice-time in Game One and wound up with only one shot to show for his efforts.
Skating only 13:36 in Game Two, 20 seconds fewer than Mike Knuble's regular season average (13:56, 15th among all Caps in average ice-time), the Captain re-doubled his efforts and made an impact on each and every shift, firing seven shots on Henrik Lundqvist, including scoring the game winner at 12:33 of the third period.
Saying all the right things to both the media and his teammates, Ovechkin is backing up his words with the same kind of maturity on the ice.
Yet, still, people question whether or not he has truly bought in to what Dale Hunter is selling?
Conceding his normal workload to none other than Jay Beagle in Game Two (yes, that's right, Beagle led all Caps forwards with 19:58 worth of ice-time), the oft-criticized Capitals superstar's passion, play and behavior were exemplary last night.
Sure, he may be frustrated with the fact the he is seeing fewer and fewer opportunities to create the same kind of magic as he did in the past, but after so much losing, does it not seem like Ovechkin has come to terms with his own liabilities? He knows very well that he isn't the defensive stalwart he needs to be in order to be on the ice in all situations. He's also come to grips with the fact that the NHL knows how to defend against him. Digesting what he has learned over the last few years has not been an easy process, but through nine games of the 2011-12 Stanley Cup playoffs, Alex Ovechkin is doing his best to prove he has matured.
The Captain wants to win, and if he's buying in then the rest of the team will follow suit.
Under immense pressure to win, Nicklas Backstrom has also bought into Dale Hunter's über-disciplined style, skating a career playoff low of 16:18 in Game Two. Yet, despite his limited ice-time, Backstrom played well in both ends of the ice, winning 50% of his team-high 20 face-offs, including the all-important win which led directly to Ovechkin's game winner.
Rallied on by the Caps star players, Washington brought a complete team effort to the Rangers at MSG, getting much needed support from the third and fourth lines(most notably, Knuble and Chimera's first period goals, but also the incredible support that led to them from Hendricks, Beagle and Ward).
Rebounding in resilient style from the series opener, Braden Holtby kicked aside 26 of the 28 Rangers shots he faced, seeing precisely twice the amount of rubber he saw in Game One. Facing action early and often, Holtby was in the game from the get-go and kept his focus throughout, even getting a little help from his posts - much like Lundqvist did in Game One.
Hell-bent on limiting his team's on-ice liabilities, Dale Hunter's leash even extended down the bench to Mike Green. Green, who skated only 18:14 - less than all dmen not named Jeff Schultz, has struggled to put together a complete game since his return late in the regular season and, as a result of his mild effectiveness, now finds himself as a part of the Caps arsenal that is only used under certain circumstances.
It hurts most fans to see the team's best players relegated to support roles, but that is what Dale Hunter has been trying to instill in this team since he first arrived; team-first. Hitting the point home in the post-season, it would seem as though the attempts to instill belief in his heavily disciplined bench management have finally caught on.
The Caps were always supposed to win with this group. They just weren't supposed to win this way. And that is what has people up in arms and confused about what is really happening to this Capitals squad.
Expectations are that the stars will rebel and the team will crumble, yet, as evidenced by the way Ovechkin is seemingly embracing the Caps new style, that doesn't seem to be happening. And if it just so happens to lead Washington to victory more often than not, who are we to question what now appears to be the most sincere and legitimate efforts made by this club over the last five years of playoff hockey?
It's such a different picture of this team that they're almost hard to recognize.
But maybe thats because they're finally playing like winners.
Washington has been nothing short of a surprise this spring. Having tied up their Conference semi-finals with the Rangers, they're heading back to the Verizon Center with momentum and a huge opportunity to take the advantage in this series.
Down to a best-of-five, the Caps have learned what it takes to win under pressure.
They know they cannot let off the gas, not even for one second. Yielding more ice-time to the Caps high risk/high reward players didn't work against the Bruins and it didn't work in Game One against the Rangers.
What does work is sticking to the uncharacteristically conservative and disciplined style which has seen them win five of nine playoff games thus far.
You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good, but without unrelenting effort and the will to win, it won't happen.
The Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin, are showing they've embraced all the intangibles they let slip by in years past, the ones that, this year, are proving to make this team far more dangerous an opponent than expected.
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Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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