Ovechkin: My goals are coming, but...

Ovi at 3 minute mark: We didn't play well in the neutral zone, I didn't skate, I didn't try to be open...

Is he giving up already on Art Ross and Rocket Richard? Sounds like that. :-( The only hope is that the game vs. Pens will wake him up, but it will be probably too late.

Ovechkin: My goals are coming, but I don't know when... hopefully in playoffs...

It takes too long for Ovi to recover from Olympics.

Tarik El-Bashir, Capitals Insider, March 3, 2010:

*Despite the fact that his team lost, Umberger said he was not impressed with the Caps and predicted a potential postseason meltdown.

"I don't think any team in the West would be overmatched by them," Umberger told the Columbus Dispatch. "They play the wrong way. They want to be moving all the time. They float around in their zone, looking for breakaways and odd-man rushes."

"A good defensive team is going to beat them [in the playoffs]," he added. "If you eliminate your turnovers and keep them off the power play, they're going to get frustrated because they're in their zone a lot."

The Caps had already left the building by the time those quotes made their way down press row. But I'm sure Boudreau will have a response after Monday's practice.

*Boudreau said Alex Ovechkin's drought is, in part, the result of the two-time MVP not working hard enough in the defensive end.

"He looked a little off tonight," Boudreau said. "He needs to work a little harder defensively and that will make his offense go better."

Ovechkin's aim was also off. He put only two shots on net, while four others sailed wide and four were blocked.

"It's coming but I don't know when," he said. "Hopefully in the playoffs."

Ovechkin also conceded that he's thinking about the Art Ross and Rocket Richard.

"It's a little pressure," Ovechkin said when reminded that there are only four games left.

Bruce needs to sit down with Ovi and challenge him. He did it before and Ovi responded.

By JEFF Z. KLEIN AND STU HACKEL, NYT SlapShot, Apr 3, 2010 "Ovechkin’s Slide":

It is almost mind-boggling to consider how far Alex Ovechkin’s stock has fallen since Feb. 24, when Canada eliminated Russia in the Olympic quarterfinals.

Ovechkin went into the Olympics as the new captain of the Capitals, helping them surge to the top of the N.H.L. and eclipsing Crosby as the league’s brightest star, the only hockey player represented by IMG. Great things were expected as he led Russia in the Olympics, expectations that were being realized with his thunderous body check on the Czech Republic’s Jaromir Jagr.

But after Russia’s 7-3 loss to Crosby’s Canada, it has been a rough road for Ovechkin, starting the day after, when he shoved a fan’s camera.

Crosby returned to the top of the hockey world with his gold-medal-winning goal, and within two weeks of his return, Ovechkin had injured Chicago’s Brian Campbell with a boarding hit and was slapped with his second suspension of the season.

Once admired for his exuberant hard hitting but now marked as a repeat offender, Ovechkin scored only four goals in March — the lowest monthly total of his N.H.L. career.

Ultimately, Ovechkin’s reputation may come down to how the Capitals do in the postseason, which in turn may mean another Ovechkin-Crosby showdown.

Ovechkin will have to hope that it will turn out different from the one in February.

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Apr. 4, 2010, Boston.com:

Alexander Ovechkin, who will take on the Bruins tomorrow night with the rest of his conference-leading Capitals, tools around D.C. in a two-door Mercedes from the renowned car company’s "Black" Series. Typical cost: Upward of $275,000. And it reportedly can top out at 245 m.p.h. "A lot of car for the area," offered Nate Ewell, the club’s senior director of media relations. Ovechkin opted to have the car painted in a special black matte finish. "We had a party at Six Flags for our season ticket-holders," recalled Newell, "and they have a replica of Batman’s car there. Ovie and I walked by it and he said, ‘Hey, Nate, that’s my car.’"

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