He Believes, The Team believes! Merry Christmas!

 nydailynews.com:

It was the first time the Rangers had ever led 4-0 at the Garden and lost. "I will try not to let this ruin my Christmas," said Chris Drury.

The Dark Ranger blog "You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry...":

Santa will not be delivering the goods for us Rangers fans this year, tonight's game against the Washington Caps came as no surprise as we dramatically lost to the Caps 4-5 in OT, after opening the third period with a three goal lead. Alexander Ovechkin scored two goals leading his Caps rallying four straight goals in regulation followed by the game winner in OT.

By Steve Zipay, newsday.com:

The last time the Rangers led 4-0 at home and did not win was nearly 30 years ago, against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1979. Last February, the Blueshirts built a 5-0 lead in Montreal and gave it away.

Those memories returned last night, as disbelief coursed through a once-confident, festive crowd at Madison Square Garden.

Led by the dynamic Alex Ovechkin, the league's reigning MVP who finished with two goals and 13 shots, the injury-riddled Capitals wiped out a four-goal, second-period deficit as Shaone Morrisonn scored the fifth straight Washington goal at 59 seconds of overtime for a shocking 5-4 victory.

"This was not the way you want to go into the Christmas break," said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who was sharp through two periods but was blitzed in the third as the Rangers lost their composure.

Ranger Pundit blog:

You have to hand it to the Rangers. They know how to screw up the holiday season. Led by the one man wrecking ball known as Ovechkin the Washington Capitals stormed back from a 4-0 deficiet to beat the Rangers in OT, 5-4. Funny about that score. When it went to 4-0 Rangers, number two son said to me and number one son and grandson Nicholas, this game is going to end 5-4. Darn it, it ended 5-4 with the Rangers on the short end. However, there was something in the air watching Ovechkin skating and hitting and charging to the net that you knew something was going to happen, something was going to change.

ALEX THE GREAT: The Capitals' Alex Ovechkin celebrates after scoring past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist in the third period to tie the game before the Rangers lost in overtime, 5-4.

ESPN:

Ovechkin started the big comeback in the second period and netted the tying goal in the third for the Southeast Division-leading Capitals, who erased a four-goal hole and beat the Rangers -- the Atlantic's top team -- 5-4 in overtime Tuesday night.

"They stopped playing hockey," a jubilant Ovechkin said. "They probably believed 4-0 they'd win the game. They tried to play conservative, but we play a different way. We play a hard, physical game and take lots of shots. You see the results."

Ovechkin, who came in with only two career points in six games at the Garden, showed off his MVP form with two goals and an assist. Shaone Morrisonn scored his first of the season on the only shot in overtime to win at 59 seconds.

Ovechkin tied it 4-4 with his 22nd of the season, scored with 7:22 left in regulation. He celebrated with an enthusiastic jump-slam into the glass in the corner.

Shaone Morrisonn scored just 59 seconds into overtime to give the Capitals a shocking victory. (Associated Press)

Post-game notes by Corey Masisak, TWT:

Ovechkin had two goals, an assist, 13 shots, four hits, a bloody lip and the first big night at the Garden of his four-year career. Backstrom had three assists, including a great pass to Kozlov, who made it 4-3 with a shot Henrik Lundqvist had no chance on. It can be a roller coaster with those, but that was a lot of wow tonight.

Those last 35 minutes or so for Ovechkin might stick in the minds of some MVP voters from this part of the country in a few months.

Ted:

Later that night, my family and I watched our team play. We had 10 players out with injuries, actually 11 as our goaltender was injured as well. Our team went down 3-0 on the first give shots. We all had a sinking feeling that this would NOT be a pretty game and then the Rangers went up 4-0. My daughter looked at me and said, “OK Dad. Never give up.”

And then Ovechkin scored, 4-1. Then Fleischmann scored, 4-2. Then Kozlov scored, 4-3. By this time, my family was going crazy. Then Ovechkin scores and we tie the game 4 to 4. We go into OT and - bang - we win 5-4 on a goal by a D man who NEVER scores a goal.

Never give up. Always believe. Stay positive. Don’t be negative. Find a way to win. A life lesson for us all.

Obviously Ted has to be politically correct and he is right, but I'd say, "A life lesson for all of us from Alex Ovechkin"

By Matt Romig, Puck Daddy:
No. 1 star: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Then along came Ovechkin, who entering play had fewer points at the Garden (2) than any other building in which he's played more than two games. Ovechkin fired again and again at Rangers goalie Henrik Lunqvist, registering a season-high 13 shots while scoring Washington's first goal and the third-period marker that set up Shaone Morrisonn's OT winner in a most improbable 5-4 triumph. How active was Ovechkin in the offensive zone? When you factor in his seven shots that missed the net, he single-handedly out-shot the high-octane Penguins, who managed just 15 shots on home ice against Tampa Bay. Alex, enjoy your brief two-day holiday break with Puck Daddy's blessing.

And Mike Vogel said it best:

Watch Alex Ovechkin play and see if you can figure out what the score of the game is. He doesn't mail it in when his team is down several goals and he doesn't coast when the Caps are a few to the good. He only knows one gear, and it's one that 99% of the opposition doesn't have.

My 10-year-old son and I were watching last night's game together, just a couple days after we watched the Caps get pasted 7-1 in Philadelphia. With the score 4-0 in the second period, I could tell that the boy was getting itchy and thinking of what else he could be doing. Watching his heroes get outscored 11-1 in the previous four-plus periods wasn't getting it done for him.

"I wouldn't write this one off yet," I said, even though I'd written off the Philly game at 3-0 (we watched the rest, but without hope of a good result). "The Rangers' defense is soft and it's all Lundqvist right now."

Sure enough, Ovi breaks the goose egg with a fluky blind spin shot. But really, when you take so many shots, what's fluky about any goals you get? Ovi routinely leads the NHL in shots on goal, and he launched a career high 446 last season. Despite missing two games in 2008-09, he is on pace for 487. Phil Esposito's once-unassailable record of 550 (set in 1971-72) suddenly seems assailable, although no one has come within 100 of Espo's record yet.

Right now, Ovi is outshooting the rest of the league by a wide, wide margin. He has 208 shots on goal, and runner-up Dustin Brown of the Kings has 157. Ovechkin has had 25 shots on goal in the last two games, and has missed the mark on another dozen bids (three were blocked and nine missed the net).

Ovi is like a dogged and diligent salesman; he deals in volume. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Shoot enough, and pucks will go in. Don't worry about being rejected. Don't worry about missing the mark. Keep making those cold calls. He'll never lead the league in shooting pct., but he'll lead in shots and in goals. We've seen that already.

Last night's "Miracle on 34th Street" was sparked simply because to Ovi, the only bad shots are the ones you don't take. So he took a low percentage shot from a low percentage scoring area and put it toward one of the best goalies in the league. It glanced around like the Alleged Shot From the Grassy Knoll, and it went in. Without that goal, the comeback never gets off the ground. I firmly believe that.

It took a while to get off the ground even after that, but you could see the momentum building with each shift.

When I was a kid, I lived near Boston and had the great fortune of watching Esposito and Bobby Orr and I learned at a very early age that no lead was insurmountable. I'm glad my son has Ovi to look up to, because without even knowing it our No. 8 is teaching the youth of this area some very valuable life lessons.

Thank you, Mike...


Alex Ovetjkin blog is wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year!


Ted's update:

New Yorkers are all talking about last night’s game and Alex Ovechkin. Do you realize he took 27 shots with 13 on net last night? Friends are saying Alex is the talk of the town a la LeBron James after a recent Knicks game except Alex is signed with us for 13 years so Rangers fans can’t have fantasies about his playing on Broadway any time soon.

Good for us and good for Alex. I am truly flattered.

Go, Caps! Go, Ovechkin! Go, go Ovechkin!

by audiko.net — ringtones.