All series long the
Philadelphia Flyers have focused on Capitals star left wing
Alex Ovechkin.
They have shadowed him with defensemen Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn. Center Mike Richards, among others, has helped take away his time and space with the puck. And the Flyers have mixed in some physical play, too, to keep Ovechkin (65 regular-season goals) off his game in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
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All in all, a pretty good strategy that has limited Ovechkin to a goal and four assists through five playoff games. That’s one of several reasons Philadelphia leads the series 3-2 and has a second chance to eliminate the Caps tonight in Game 6 at Wachovia Center.
But a trend has emerged the past two games — a 4-3 Philadelphia win in double overtime in Game 4 and a 3-2 Washington victory in Game 5 on Saturday. Other players are scoring for the Caps while Ovechkin is on the ice.
“We’re in the series andit’s Game 6 and Alex has one goal,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “You have to believe other people can score. He’s the best player in the world. But he’s not the only player we have.”
Through the first three games of this series, Ovechkin had a goal — the game-winner in Game 1 — and two assists. But he wasn’t on the ice at all for the Caps’ other five goals. And while he wasn’t scoring, neither were his linemates.
Ovechkin’s totals didn’t change much in Games 4 or 5. But the production of Washington’s top line and power-play unit did. Ovechkin has been on the ice for five of the Caps last six goals — two each by Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin and one by Sergei Fedorov. And even though he didn’t record a point on Saturday, the Flyers still felt his presence.
“Everybody looks at Alex and says if he doesn’t score two goals what’s wrong,” Boudreau said. “Well, he was on for three goals [Saturday]. Two of them were because their defensemen were all over Alex. When he’s out there everybody pays attention so it gives a little bit of room to some other guys.”
