Caps 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2
Bizzare night in Raleigh. Obviously the big story is the status of star forward Alex Ovechkin. He initiated a knee-on-knee collision with Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason in the first period and took the brunt of the force. Ovechkin couldn’t put any weight on his right leg and had to be helped off the ice. The Caps said they’d have no update tonight, but that Ovechkin would be further examined by Dr. Ben Shaffer tomorrow. Can’t speculate on the injury. But it certainly looked serious. Caps have an 11 a.m. practice set for Tuesday so we’ll know more by early afternoon.
The initial concern is for Ovechkin’s health – here and across the ocean. The man has 18 goals, has won two MVPs in a row and is expected to anchor Russia’s bid for a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February. We’re close enough to that event now that even a relatively minor injury can knock a player out of that tournament.
But there is a secondary aspect to this. Ovechkin has now been ejected from two of his last three games. He did not earn a suspension or a fine for a boarding hit last week on Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta. I can’t imagine Ovechkin will be so lucky this time. Some will argue the hit on Gleason was dirty. To me the replay shows Ovechkin leaning in with his shoulder – not purposefully extending his knee to trip a player who’d gone past him. The play was similar to one in last year’s playoffs when Ovechkin collided with Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar behind the net. Ovechkin received no fine or suspension for that hit. But he’s developing a track record now and the NHL isn’t always consistent on these issues. Montreal forward Georges Laraque was recently given a five-game suspension for a knee-on-knee hit that knocked out Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall for a month.
“it’s the same thing I think as with Gonchar last year. [Ovechkin] leans in with the shoulder – we looked at it about 20 times – and his leg follows him,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after the game. “Like Laraque didn’t lean in at all and he just goes out and takes the knee. But Alex was trying to hit him. Gleason makes a pretty good move to the inside and as he’s moving his leg comes out and hits him. So we’ll see.”
Gleason missed just two shifts, but the extent of an injury isn’t always the best way to enforce a code of discipline. Boudreau said if the referees had known Gleason would be back so soon it would have been a two-minute penalty. That seems doubtful. And Carolina coach Paul Maurice made clear after the game that Gleason was playing hurt because his team was already down a defenseman.
“Gleason made a good move and [Ovechkin] got him with his knee,” Maurice told reporters after the game. “How[ever] you want to define the play it’s dangerous for both players.”
Hurricanes defenseman Joe Corvo was cut by the skate blade of Caps defenseman Karl Alzner right in front of the Carolina bench in the first period and that injury actually looked worse than Ovechkin’s. Corvo was immediately taken to an area hospital and is stable. But it is clear he’ll be out for a while. Boudreau had more to say on a possible suspenion for Ovechkin and Corvo’s ugly injury.
“I’m way more concerned about [Ovechkin’s] injury [than a suspension]. Whatever happens [with a suspension] happens. And I don’t think it’s a deservable thing. But obviously any player on our team if they’ve got an injury we’re way more concerned about that. Hell, I’m concerned about Corvo’s injury. It looked like he hurt his leg pretty bad and I coached him for four years. So I’m a little concerned about him.”
Boudreau coached Corvo at AHL Manchester when both were in the Los Angeles Kings’ minor-league system. More in a bit on the actual game.
