NEW YORK -- As Alex Ovechkin takes the pregame warmup at Madison Square Garden, an hour before scoring in his return game -- a Capitals' 4-2 win -- Rangers fans in blue and white jerseys stand 10-deep behind the glass. In a rarity for this most vocal of fanbases, hardly anyone makes a sound. They mostly just stand and watch and appreciate. Ovechkin is back after a two-week injury and he seems to have been missed not just by Capitals fans.
Bob Hoch attempts to focus on Ovechkin with the Canon 200 he's taken out of his jacket pocket. Hoch has been a Rangers season ticket-holder for five years, but he's an unabashed Ovechkin true believer. "I love Ovechkin and hate Sidney Crosby," Hoch says, as if there has to be a choice. "They're both incredible hockey players, but Crosby takes dives and avoids contact at all times and Ovie is old school. He's the guy you'd kill to have on your team."
NEW YORK -- Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin will make his return to the lineup on Tuesday night in Madision Square Garden against the New York Rangers.
Ovechkin, who is still tied for the NHL lead in goals with 14, missed six games over the last 15 days with what the Capitals termed an "upper body strain." His return is not just at one of the world's more famous arenas, but can be seen on VERSUS. In Ovechkin's three previous appearances on the league's national cable partner this season, he has a combined six goals and two assists. In his last five games at Madison Square Garden -- including last year's playoffs -- Ovechkin has four goals and four assists.
UNIONDALE, NY -- What does a Stanley Cup contender do when nothing is working, their feisty underdog of an opponent is giving them fits and they're down 2-0 with 15 minutes left in the game? To hear the Washington Capitals tell it after coming back to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on Saturday night, a few things.
UNIONDALE, NY -- Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau came to the defense of Alex Ovechkin on Saturday morning, after the superstar forward was fined $1,000 for his alleged "slew-foot" of Atlanta's Rich Peverley on Thursday.
After the first two games of the Washington Capitals' season, Alex Ovechkin is on pace to score approximately 123 goals (hurray for small sample sizes!).
BOSTON -- On the first day in October, more than eight months before the Stanley Cup is rolled out to center ice, the Washington Capitals demonstrated in NHL Game No. 1 in Boston on Thursday night why they may be the Eastern standard.
These Capitals are not just Alexander Ovechkin, but a team constructed with precision from top to bottom.
Early last week when ESPN's E:60 aired a segment on the fast life of Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin, it was hard not to be struck by a brief and absolutely incongruous appearance by LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. As my friend Greg Wyshynski wrote at the time, it seemed to be something of a reach, even for the WWL, as if they needed to include a clip of James in order to interest any NBA fans who might be watching.
Ovechkin and James met up the last time the Cavaliers were in town to play the Wizards, and Ovechkin took the opportunity to present James with one of his jerseys. At the time, James was a bit chagrined that he didn't have one to give Ovechkin in return, but that oversight was corrected Friday when Caps owner Ted Leonsis strode into the team's practice facility in Northern Virginia with one of the NBA wunderind's jerseys in hand, complete with a personal autograph: "To Alexander the Great: Keep up the good work. King James."
In other news, Sidney Crosby's LeBron jersey is still on back order from Mitchell and Ness. Just like mine.
When a team earns home-ice advantage for a first-round NHL playoff series, the expectation is that they'll win at least one of the first two games. That leaves you in position to take control of the series on the road.
However, if you lose those first two home games, and then face up with two straight games in the underdog's building, what does that mean? The Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks are about to find out, and the facts might not be what you expect.
Most NHL teams have to get creative to entertain fans during long television timeouts. If you go to games, you'll see goofy animations on the scoreboard, activities where fans are encouraged to behave like they've been drinking even when they haven't, and advertisements for future home games and promotions, among other things. In Atlanta, the Thrashers produced a mock PSA for Tuesday's game against Washington, which pokes fun at Alexander Ovechkin'sspot for Eastern Motors. Enjoy.
With 11 shots (tying his third-highest single-game output of the season) in Sunday's 6-4 win over Atlanta, Alexander Ovechkin became the second player in NHL history to top 500 shots in a season. With 507 shots on the year, Ovechkin needs 43 more in the Caps' final three games to tie Phil Esposito's record of 550, which he set in 1970-'71. Esposito scored 76 goals that year, so Ovechkin better catch up. Slacker. [Capitals Outsider]
NEW YORK -- As Alex Ovechkin takes the pregame warmup at Madison Square Garden, an hour before scoring in his return game -- a Capitals' 4-2 win -- Rangers fans in blue and white jerseys stand 10-deep behind the glass. In a rarity for this most vocal of fanbases, hardly anyone makes a sound. They mostly just stand and watch and appreciate. Ovechkin is back after a two-week injury and he seems to have been missed not just by Capitals fans.
NEW YORK -- Washington 
Early last week when 
When a team earns home-ice advantage for a first-round NHL playoff series, the expectation is that they'll win at least one of the first two games. That leaves you in position to take control of the series on the road.
