Caps star disappointed in two-game suspension
It’s not exactly the kind of break that Alex Ovechkin was seeking. But his two-game suspension by the NHL at least gives the Capitals star forward a few extra days to heal from the knee injury he suffered Monday night at Carolina and the upper-body strain that cost him six games last month.
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That’s about the only upside to his knee-on-knee hit on Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason on Monday — his second ejection in three games, which then led to his first suspension as an NHL player.
“It is what it is. Nothing I want to say about it,” a curt Ovechkin said about the suspension after practice on Wednesday. “I’m disappointed.”
Ovechkin can’t play again until next Monday at Tampa. He did participate in practice on Wednesday — albeit while wearing an orange “no-contact” jersey. But he still skated up and down the ice without any obvious struggle. When he changed out of his gear afterward he dropped a neoprene sleeve in front of his locker.
But any thought that Ovechkin is about to curtail his attacking style of play because of the Gleason hit — or the Patrick Kaleta boarding penalty and game misconduct he took last week against the Sabres — is unlikely.
“I’m not going to change anything,” Ovechkin said flatly.
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said Ovechkin doesn’t want to take any more time off than he has to and left open the possibility he will be ready for Monday’s game at Tampa. Boudreau also backed off the idea that he will have a specific talk with Ovechkin about choosing his spots better before going after a big hit in open ice.
“When I [described Ovechkin as] reckless [on Tuesday] I was using that term in fear of him getting hurt, not him hurting anybody else,” Boudreau said. “He’s got to be him. So I don’t want him to change.”
