I’ve made this point - more or less - before in various ways and in various venues, but it’s worth repeating again. And probably a few more times after that.
If you’re an Alex Ovechkin hater, you should really take a second and wonder if you’ll end up missing him when he’s gone.
The same can be said for any number of players who inexplicably take a bunch of grief and ultimately find certain fans and media members turning on them. Phil Kessel may be one of the last seemingly pudgy NHL players to be a speedy, breakaway threat; why should we not celebrate that instead of giving him a hard time all the time?
As media-savvy as players are, they’re far more likely to clam up as they are to open up. We should count our lucky stars that the occasional star like Ovechkin and P.K. Subban share a little personality and add some much-needed sizzle to the stakes.
Or, you know, you could just keep on hating them for no good reason.
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BLUES 4, CAPITALS 3
-- The reason Ovechkin/Ovechkin’s legacy come up this morning is because he reached quite the milestone on Sunday.
By scoring his 30th (he added his 31st later) goal of 2014-15, Ovechkin started his career with 10 straight seasons of 30+ goals. If that doesn’t sound impressive on its face, consider that only four other players have ever done that: Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mike Gartner and Mike Bossy. Another remarkable facet is that Ovechkin managed to do so even with the 2012-13 season’s 48-game slate. Wow.
Ovechkin now has 453 career regular season goals. My guess is that a reasonably healthy Ovechkin will hit 500 goals before he turns 31 (he’s almost 30 now).
So, yeah, try to appreciate what we’re seeing, especially in a time in which goals get tougher and tougher to come by. Ovechkin likely has more “heart” than you think, too; despite also playing hard on Saturday (eight SOG), he fired 10 shots on goal against the Blues on Sunday.
If that doesn’t start to sell you on his “compete level” then I guess it’s just a lost cause.
-- The Blues are on a five-game winning streak and now boast the best record against the East of any Western team: 13-3-2. They’ve generated a reputation for defeating “the teams they’re supposed to,” which certainly could come in handy as far as seeding is concerned.
-- Alexander Steen actually won the war of the Alexes yesterday, not Ovechkin. He scored two goals and assisted on Vladimir Tarasenko‘s game-winner as the Blues shook off David Backes’ game misconduct hit on Karl Alzner.
As far as Backes goes, I’m not sure if he’ll be suspended, but we might find out later today.
-- Tarasenko already has 25 goals this season. Many probably would have been happy with him hitting that mark in April. Impressive stuff.
-- In the last seven games, http://www.nbcsports.com/edge/player/NHL/1905/Mike-GreenMike Green has alternated two-point and zero-point outputs, with four being two-pointers. Odd.
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PREDATORS 4, PENGUINS 0
-- One of the remarkable things about Nashville: James Neal has been solid - but unspectacular, at least as far as some expected - yet the Preds’ offense has gone on undaunted.
-- Another remarkable thing: the Predators persist even when MVP-level goalie Pekka Rinne has been sidelined. If people aren’t taking the Preds seriously yet, they might want to do so now.
-- Uh, why is Roman Josi only owned in 75 percent of Yahoo leagues? With two goals and three assists in his last four games, he now has nine goals and 33 points, which would be a nice haul for a mid-level defenseman’s season. He’s really not that far behind Shea Weber, so if you’re in a sleepy league where he’s available, amend that.
-- I’m not going to go into Sidney Crosby hysterics here - I don’t have a newspaper column to hawk - but I wonder if the Penguins might be wise to let him rest a little bit. He only has one assist in his last five games, and while he’s firing some SOG, that’s a troubling sign. Pittsburgh’s battling for seeding but pretty comfortable for a playoff spot, so why not give Crosby a breather after running him into a wall year after year? It doesn’t seem like the guy really knows how to “pace himself,” after all.
COYOTES 3, CANADIENS 2
-- Louis Domingue gave up two goals within the first five minutes of the game, giving the impression that Arizona would get destroyed on back-to-back games. Instead, the Coyotes bounced back and Domingue won his first NHL game in his first NHL start.
No, I don’t expect much from him, but I do think the Coyotes have little to lose by seeing how far he can go. Then again, they might be in full-on “Mike Smith‘s putridity gives us the best chance to win (a top-two pick)” mode.
-- Oliver Ekman-Larsson already has 14 goals, which gives him the NHL lead among defensemen.
-- Hard to imagine Keith Yandle sticking with the Coyotes considering their should-be seller status. Then again, his name’s been out there in ways that remind me of Tomas Kaberle‘s eternal status as Toronto trade fodder ... except almost no one cares in this instance.
-- Is it possible that the Coyotes might not be an easy out? I’d say “maybe against East teams.” They’ve generated at least a +6 shot differential in the last three games, but those were all contests against East teams. Then again, their next three come against the lesser conference ...
WILD 4, CANUCKS 2
-- When Thomas Vanek scored a howler for his 10th goal of the season, it seemed like an insurance tally of little note. Instead, it ended up being the game-winner.
-- Who is Ronalds Kenins? Well, he’s a guy who scored a goal on Sunday. He’s also 23 and from Latvia. Yup, that’s all I got.
-- Ryan Suter wasn’t even supposed to play yesterday. Instead, he got his 25th assist of 2014-15 and played almost 28 minutes.
-- Not a banner day for Ryan Miller, who allowed three goals on just 19 shots. Meanwhile, Devan Dubnyk is on a three-game winning streak in which he’s only allowed three goals. Could he save Minnesota’s season or is it too late?
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