Goal Line Report
Entries with the tag: Alex+Ovechkin
The NHL Needs the Ovechkin of Old to Return to Form
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/08/12 at 11:06 AM ET
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With Pittsburgh Penguins’ superstar Sidney Crosby struggling to get healthy, the National Hockey League needs a player like Washington Capitals’ forward Alex Ovechkin to be better now more than ever.
In Ovechkin’s first few seasons in the NHL, he was absolutely amazing to watch. “Ovy” could score goals at will, fire pucks and more pucks on net, dipsy doodle around five skaters, and hit with the best of them.
Last season, however, the league saw a much different Ovechkin. Ovechkin scored just 32 goals after averaging close to 54 goals a season in his first five years in the NHL.
The league and its fans also saw Ovechkin get lazy on shifts, fail to back check, turn over the puck, and even have his lowest shot total of his career with 367. Prior to last season, Ovechkin averaged close to 432 shots a season.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Washington+Capitals,
Not Terrible, but Not Great Either
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/14/11 at 07:37 AM ET
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That would be the exact way to describe the New York Rangers’ play in their Game 1 2-1 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals.
The Blueshirts grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third when defenseman Matt Gilroy scored his first career playoff goal. Unfortuantely, the Capitals washed that out late in the third period when Alex Ovechkin forced one in at the side of the net passed a helpless Henrik Lundqvist.
This was definitely a game that the Rangers’ could have won by at least a 1-0 score. The team had done a terrific job of shutting down the Capitals’ big guns until Ovechkin tied it and Alex Semin won it in overtime.
With that said, this Blueshirts’ hockey team did not generate enough offense. Sure, the team took 25 shots but not enough of them were of the quality variety, which is something that the team will need to change going forward if they want to win this series.
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Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Henrik+Lundqvist, Matt+Gilroy, New+York+Rangers, Washington+Capitals,
Blueshirts Get the Job Done Against the Capitals
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/25/11 at 08:20 AM ET
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When New York Rangers’ fans heard that Martin Biron was starting last night against the Washington Capitals, they all thought that head coach John Tortorella was giving the game away and hoping to pick up two points tonight against the Panthers.
As it turns out, they were wrong and the Blueshirts came away with a 2-1 shootout victory, thanks partly to some timely goaltending from Biron and a terrific defensive effort. The defense held the Capitals to just 23 shots and did a solid job of keeping the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Mike Knuble and others quiet on their way to another road victory.
Fifty-two minutes into the game, the Rangers were down 1-0 until Marian Gaborik tied it up when a Dan Boyle shot ffrom the top of the circle hit off Capitals’ netminder Braden Holtby and then deflected off Gaborik’s shoulder and in. It may not have been Gaborik’s prettiest goal but it was a goal that the team needed and a goal that will hopefully get Gaborik going offensively on a consistent basis.
In the shootout, the team got two great goals from Mats Zuccarello (4/4 in the shootout this season and in his career) and the eventual game winning goal from Artem Anisimov, his first ever shootout goal, giving the team its second straight shootout victory.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Artem+Anisimov, Brandon+Holtby, Dan+Boyle, Florida+Panthers, John+Tortorella, Marian+Gaborik, Martin+Biron, Mats+Zuccarello, Mike+Green, Mike+Knuble, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Washington+Capitals,
AO and the NHL: Made for each other
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/26/10 at 03:08 PM ET
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From good friend of the blog JP and Japers’ Rink:
“Every Canadian dreams of playing like Ovechkin” - Bobby Clarke
“He plays like a Canadian!” - Don Cherry
“Ovechkin does not play like a Russian. He plays like an NHL player.” - Vladislav Tretiak
Three quotes from three men who have each logged more than forty years in the game of hockey, all saying the same thing: Alex Ovechkin doesn’t play the game like any Russian they’ve ever seen. And while Clarke’s and Cherry’s quips were clearly intended to convey a level of admiration and respect, Tretiak’s observation came across as anything but complimentary; Tretiak’s comment was a warning..
Click here for more from JP.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Washington+Capitals,
More Attention on Kovalchuk than Ovechkin Last Night at MSG
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/05/10 at 01:45 PM ET
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From good friend of the blog Jim Cerny at Rink Rap:
Just 24 hours prior Thrashers GM Don Waddell had released information that Kovie rejected a pair of mega-deals—-$101 million over 12 years, $70 mill over seven years—-and was opting to head to UFA status this summer. As a result, Waddell announced that Kovie would be traded.
But to whom? And how soon?
Speculation flew around the press room at The Garden as reporters checked in with sources, shared what they had heard, and probably made up a few rumors, as well. I made a note to myself that it just seemed funny there was little to no chatter about the upcoming game at MSG, and Kovie’s name was mentioned a heckuva’ lot more than Ovie’s.
What followed was one wild night, just a great fun night to be a hockey reporter. The Rangers and Caps played an exciting seesaw contest where goals and the power play ruled the day in a 6-5 Washington victory.
Click here for more thoughts on the Kovalchuk deal.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Atlanta+Thrashers, Illya+Kovalchuk, Jim+Cerny, Rink+Rap, Washington+Capitals,
Who is Better?
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/13/09 at 09:37 PM ET
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As you are all well aware of, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are moving onto the Eastern Conference Finals after beating Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals tonight by a score of 6-2.
Now that the series is over, I wanted to ask the readers of Kukla’s Korner a question and we can keep this thread going as long as you want it to go. I don’t want just the answer. I want your full reasons and thoughts. Here we go:
Who is the better hockey player - Crosby or Ovechkin?
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Sidney+Crosby, Washington+Capitals,
Capitals Win Would be Right Result
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/28/09 at 01:40 PM ET
Comments (5)
From Ken Campbell at TheHockeyNews.com:
But really, is anyone outside the metropolitan New York area even hoping the Rangers win this thing? After all, which would you rather watch in the second round – a slow, plodding, old team with a brilliant goaltender or a dynamic young team with the most explosive talent in the game today? Would you rather watch Ovechkin weave his magic and be a dangerous player every time he steps on the ice or watch Sean Avery be a menace to himself, his opponents and his own team every time he gets out there? Would you rather see a guy such as Bruce Boudreau have some success, or would you like to watch John Tortorella scowl his way through another round and do things that embarrass and hurt his organization?
Click here for more.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Bruce+Boudreau, John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, Sean+Avery, Washington+Capitals,
Time to Battle
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/26/09 at 09:15 PM ET
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Note: I apologize for not posting this weekend as I was out of town with my fiance this weekend. Looks like I picked a good time to go, huh?
Well, folks, here we go. The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals are headed to a Game 7 on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center, thanks to huge back-to-back wins for the Caps by scores of 4-0 and 5-3, respectively.
It’s easy to see why the Caps won these last two games by a combined score of 9-3: they know how to put the puck in the net. Alex Ovechkin is heating up, the Caps power play is converting and getting more dangerous by the game and more importantly, they are making Rangers’ superstar netminder Henrik Lundqvist look human.
Through the first four games, Lundqvist had stopped an amazing 141 of 148 shots and was the main reason why the Blueshirts were up 3-1. However, in Game 4 and 5, Lundqvist was shaky, allowing four goals on 14 shots in Game 5 on Friday night and five goals on 20 shots this afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
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Tags: Note:New+York+Rangers, Alex+Ovechkin, Henrik+Lundvqist, Vancouver+Canucks, Washington+Capitals,
Lundqvist Leads the Blueshirts to 3-1 Series Lead
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/23/09 at 08:30 AM ET
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Its been said by hockey pundits and experts that you need goaltending to win in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Case in point: Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.
Thanks to Lundqvist’s 38 saves last night, the New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals by a score of 2-1 in Game four to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. He was not only able to stop initial shot attempts, but he was also able to stop rebound attempts and frustrate the likes of Alex Ovechkin (who scored the Caps only goal), Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green.
Through four games in this series, Lundqvist has stopped an incredible 141 of 149 shots, good enough for a 2.00 goals against average, .946 save percentage and one shutout. Simply put, Lundqvist is the main reason why the Blueshirts are one victory away from eliminating the Capitals in the first round.
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Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Henrik+Lundqvist, Mike+Green, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Rangers+Reading, Washington+Captials,
Keep it Going
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/19/09 at 12:20 PM ET
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Many hockey pundits and analysts figured that the Washington Capitals’ offense would dominate the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, with two games in the books, the Blueshirts are up 2-0 with the next two games at Madison Square Garden.
Surprised? I’m actually not because I’ve written before that if the team could shut down the Caps’ big guns and get timely goal scoring against the Caps’ suspect goaltending, this team would have a chance win.
Through two games, the Rangers have gotten 67 saves (on 70 shots) from their star netminder Henrik Lundqvist, lots of blocked shots by forwards and defensemen alike, and timely goal scoring from their young guys (Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan). For the Rangers, this spells s-u-c-c-e-s-s.
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Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Brandon+Dubinsky, Henrik+Lundqvist, Mike+Green, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Ryan+Callahan, Simeon+Varlamov, Washington+Capitals,
Thoughts Heading Into Game 2
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/17/09 at 11:00 AM ET
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Tomorrow afternoon at the Verizon Center, the New York Rangers look to go up 2-0 in their first round series against the Washington Capitals.
While the Blueshirts were able to pick up a 4-3 victory in Game one on Wednesday night, there are a few things that the team will most likely look to improve upon:
- Limiting Alex Ovechkin. In Game one, Ovechkin fired 13 shots at Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Luckily, the “King” was on his game.
- Staying out of the box. Markus Naslund was guilty of taking three penalties on Wednesday night. The last thing the Rangers’ want to do is give the Capitals power play time with lethal weapons such as Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, and Sergei Fedorov.
- Face-offs. The Caps’ outclassed the Blueshirts in the face-off circle on Wednesday night. Hopefully, the return of captain Chris Drury will change that.
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Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Markus+Naslund, Mike+Green, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Rangers+Reading, Sergei+Federov, Washington+Capitals,
The Right Stuff
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/15/09 at 09:00 PM ET
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Without their captain in the lineup, the New York Rangers went out and defeated the Washington Capitals by a score of 4-3 at the Verizon Center. They did it with timely goal scoring, great defense in the last few minutes, solid goaltending and a good power play (I’m not kidding).
Chris Drury skated in the warm-ups and realized that he couldn’t go and in the first few minutes of the game, it didn’t look like the Blueshirts were ready to go as they took a penalty 18 seconds into the game. However, the team killed it off and settled down into a barn-burner of a game with the Caps.
The Rangers got great performances from Scott Gomez (1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points), Nik Antropov (1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points), Markus Naslund (1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points…needs to stay out of the penalty box though) Brandon Dubinsky (game-winning goal) and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 32 of 35 shots, 13 of which came off the stick of Alex Ovechkin.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Brandon+Dubinsky, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Jose+Theodore, Markus+Naslund, New+York+Rangers, Nik+Antropov, Scott+Gomez, Verizon+Center, Washington+Capitals,
All Eyes on The King
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/14/09 at 08:35 AM ET
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When the puck drops tomorrow night at the Verizon Center, all eyes will turn to New York Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist as the Blueshirts take on the Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
If the Blueshirts are going to advance to the next round, the “King” will need to be at his best when he faces the likes of offensive machines Alex Ovechkin (56 goals, 54 assists, 110 points), Nicklas Backstrom (22 goals, 66 assists, 88 points), Alexander Semin (34 goals, 45 assists, 79 points) and stud defenseman Mike Green (31 goals, 42 assists, 73 points).
Lundqvist will face pucks from all angles and will have to steal at least one of the first two games of the series if the team wants to give themselves any kind of shot when the series shifts back to Madison Square Garden.
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Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Atlanta+Thrashers, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Tortorella, Mike+Green, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Washington+Capitals,
Some questions before taking a break
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/25/09 at 10:30 PM ET
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Good evening folks. I hope all you hockey nuts enjoyed the NHL All-Star festivities this weekend. I particularly enjoyed Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin’s rekindled friendship, Alexei Kovalev’s hometown showing and a pretty high scoring All-Star game. Do I think that changes need to be made? I sure do but for now, I wanted to give the NHL a good old pat on the back for their good work this weekend.
I wanted to let you know that I will not be blogging much this weekend because I will be on vacation in Puerto Rico playing some golf. I am returning on February 1 (Super Bowl Sunday) and will get back to blogging on the 2nd. However, feel free to drop me an e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to let me know what’s going around the league and of course, with the New York Rangers.
However, before I left, I wanted to get your thoughts regarding the league’s second half of the season:
- Which teams will round out the top eight in the Eastern and Western Conferences?
- Which player will score the most points in the second half of the season?
- Which player will have the biggest fall in the second half of the season?
- Which coaches, if any, will get fired?
- Will Pat Quinn be joining the Ottawa Senators at any point?
These are just a few questions that I have regarding the second half of the season and I’m sure that more will emerge as the NHL resumes play this week. Let’s hear your thoughts folks!
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Tags: Alexei+Kovalev, Alex+Ovechkin, Evgeni+Malkin, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Pat+Quinn,
The New Season
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/03/09 at 12:00 PM ET
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The New York Rangers will look to put up their second straight win tonight when they take on the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.
In the team’s last meeting, the Capitals overcame a four goal deficit to defeat the Rangers 5-4 in overtime thanks to the play of their fearless superstar, Alex Ovechkin. It was a real gut-check moment for the Blueshirts that showed them that they still have a lot of work to do before being considered one of the NHL’s elite teams, despite being tied for third place with the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference, who each have 49 points.
In order for the Blueshirts to get back to playing consistent hockey, a lot of things have to happen.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Chris+Drury, Eastern+Conference, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Scott+Gomez, Washington+Capitals,
Close But No Cigar
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/21/08 at 12:15 PM ET
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In what was the team’s biggest test of the season, the New York Rangers passed with flying colors despite losing to the league’s best team, the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 last night at the HP Pavilion Center.
Despite a poorly played first period, last night had to be one of the team’s best efforts all season. They were especially good in the third period, when they controlled play and dominated the Sharks, outshooting them 17-7. Unfortunately, the Blueshirts were unable to get one by Sharks’ netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who played well after dropping his previous two decisions to the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Yes, the team lost a valuable two points last night but this was a game where the Blueshirts proved that they are not far off from being considered one of the league’s top teams this season.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Brandon+Dubinsky, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Detroit+Red+Wings, Evgeni+Nabokov, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ryan+Callahan, San+Jose+Sharks, Washington+Capitals,
