There’s a joke in here somewhere about this being Washington and someone in town switching from left wing to right wing. But we really don’t have the setup line and the Stanley Cup playoffs are too important for political humor, right? We just know that this switch is working for Alex Ovechkin.
Not that it’s a permanent one. It happened occasionally vs. New York and usually with Brooks Laich in the game. And all it really seems to be is a change-up, designed to prevent defenses from keying on Ovechkin’s pet moves from the left.
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Ovechkin has always played on the left side and putting him on the right is not that simple. But perhaps it helps; Ovechkin scored a goal in Saturday’s 3-1 series clinching win over the Rangers from the right side. Rather than give a move to a defender who has seen every one of them from the left side, Ovechkin simply exploded past the defense for a highlight goal.
Not that it matters to Ovechkin whether he’s on his backhand or forehand side.
“Same,” he said. “I don’t feel difference.”
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said he would not discuss if this move is an advantage or disadvantage. Yet, teams won’t be able to tell from watching film, will they?
But Boudreau did say, “It’s a process of making him believe he can be just as good on the forehand. He plays a different style of game. If anything, that would be an adjustment for an opposing team because he plays a different game on the right side than on the left.”
