Washington (7-2-2) at Atlanta (4-3-1)

  • Game info: 7:00 pm EDT Thu Oct 29, 2009
  • TV: NHLN, SS

By KATE HEDLIN, STATS Writer Oct 28, 11:01 pm EDT

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Ilya Kovalchuk’s(notes) two-goal performance last week against the Capitals wasn’t enough to keep the Atlanta Thrashers from losing a third straight to Washington.

After suffering an injury that will keep him sidelined for the next three to five weeks, Kovalchuk won’t get the chance to help his team in the latest meeting between the Southeast Division rivals.

The Thrashers return to the ice Thursday night for the first time since losing their best player as they host Alex Ovechkin(notes) and the Capitals, winners of five straight.

Kovalchuk, who has scored 40 or more goals in each of the last five seasons for Atlanta (4-3-1), was off to another good start with nine goals and one assist, scoring twice in a 5-4 loss to Washington last Thursday.

Kovalchuk was on the ice for less than four minutes Saturday, though, before breaking a bone in his right foot.

“Obviously you cannot replace Kovy, so it’s going to take a team effort to do it,” goalie Johan Hedberg(notes) told the Thrashers’ official Web site.

Atlanta now faces the task of trying to end a three-game losing streak to the Capitals (7-2-2) without their biggest offensive threat. After losing Kovalchuk on Saturday, Atlanta fell 4-3 to San Jose, unable to complete a rally from a 3-0 deficit.

Kovalchuk, who can become an unrestricted free agent in July, has been relatively durable over the last few years, missing three games in each of the last two seasons and playing all 82 contests in 2006-07. After he was injured Saturday, rookie Evander Kane(notes), the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, stepped into Kovalchuk’s spot on the team’s first line. Rich Peverley(notes) will also be expected to take on a bigger role. He is second on Atlanta with five goals and is tied with Kovalchuk with 10 points.

“I want them to understand it’s not OK to say ‘poor us.’ It’s not about that,” coach John Anderson said. “All those other teams - they don’t (care) about us. They’re happy this happened.”

Anderson’s team has lost three straight overall and has dropped five of six against Washington. The Thrashers kept Ovechkin in check last week, holding him without a point, but they gave up three goals in an 88-second stretch in the third period en route to the loss.

Ovechkin, who has 11 goals and eight assists this season, has been held scoreless in only two games. He scored twice in a 4-2 win over visiting Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Washington trailed 2-0 in the second period before Ovechkin tallied his first of the night. Alexander Semin(notes), who missed the previous two games, scored the tiebreaking goal 5:24 into the third period, and Ovechkin added an empty-netter in the final seconds.

Goaltender Jose Theodore(notes) had another solid game, finishing with 41 saves to win his second start after missing the previous two with back spasms.

“He has been awesome,” captain Chris Clark(notes) told the Capitals’ official Web site. “The times that we do make mistakes, the times that we let pucks squeak into the slot, he’s been there to save them.”

Theodore was not available when the Capitals beat the Thrashers last week. He is 5-2-0 with a 2.42 goals-against average in eight starts in Atlanta.

Ovechkin’s 23 goals, 26 assists and 49 points against the Thrashers are his highest totals against any opponent.

Updated Oct 28, 11:01 pm EDT
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Team Comparison

Team G W L OTL Pts Standings GF GA Road/Home
Washington 25 14 5 6 34 1st, Southeast 87 73 6-3-3 Road
Atlanta 22 12 7 3 27 2nd, Southeast 79 65 4-5-2 Home

Notes

The Capitals became the 21st team in NHL history to win a best-of-seven playoff series after losing three of the first four games. ... This was the second straight year in which Washington forced a Game Seven after being down three games to one. Last season, the Capitals lost the seventh game at home in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers in the conference quarterfinals. ... Washington outshot New York, 13-1, in the third period. ... LW Donald Brashear began serving his suspension for his actions prior to and during Game Six. The enforcer received a one-game ban for initiating contact with New York's Colton Orr during pregame warmups on Sunday and a five-game suspension for a blind-side hit on Blair Betts during the contest. ... RW Chris Clark made his first appearance since January 27. The captain had been sidelined with a wrist injury that required surgery.

Apr 28, 11:36 pm EDT

RW Colby Armstrong was honored as the 2009 Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy Winner. ... LW Ilya Kovalchuk was named the 2009 Thrashers Most Valuable Player. He scored his 43rd goal of the season Saturday. ... Winning the season series 4-1-1, the Thrashers improved to 27-19-10 against Tampa Bay, including 17-6-5 at Philips Arena. ... C Todd White recorded his 51st assist while LW Slava Kozlov had his 50th.

Apr 11, 10:17 pm EDT
NHL

51 Comments

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  1. kroc
    51. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 7:33pm EDT

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    La La:

    It's obvious the Pens are the only team you pay any attention to, because you sure don't know anything about the Caps, Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Green, Knuble, Laich, etc. I feel sad for you because you have so much blind faith in the Pens that if they happen to crumble (the way they nearly did mid-season last year), your delusional mind just won't be able to handle it.

    Good luck to you, buddy.
  2. La La Land
    50. Posted by La La Land Fri Oct 30 7:09pm EDT

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    The Caps will NEVER beat the Penguins in a playoff series. Never. And AO is a huge reason for that. If you can't see the difference between a balanced team like the Penguins, where the superstars have a pass first, but score when you can mentality and where they elevate their teammates versus the Caps with AO's "Its me Its me" selfish mentality, where its all about AO then you are ignorant or just blind. The Penguins just lost Malkin for 2 or 3 weeks but odds are that they will remain in the top 5 teams in the standings and wont really lose much in terms of productivity. Why? Because the team is balanced, has more than just one stacked line and has players who can fill in for Malkin and keep going at neatly the same pace. We already lost our #1 defenseman in Gonchar and that has had no effect. The Penguins are a TEAM, the Caps are the AO show. If the Caps lost AO they would plummet down the standings faster than you could say "cherrypicker come back".

    And I can't wait for the playoffs, when the Penguins will once again own the Caps. Like we ALWAYS do.
  3. victor
    49. Posted by victor Fri Oct 30 5:08pm EDT

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    How can the Caps not be contenders? They were one overtime away from beating the eventual champs, it could have gone either way and they would have rolled in the Eastern finals. And I think they have only gotten better since then.
  4. Kris
    48. Posted by Kris Fri Oct 30 5:04pm EDT

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    #48 Kroc - Right on. Getting that many opportunities is an accomplishment in itself, as well as converting on them. Given that every team tries to implement a strategy to stop Ovechkin, or at least "slow him down," the fact that he's around the net and scores as much as he does is damned impressive. Well do I remember opposing coaches saying similar things about Mario Lemieux, about how they thought they'd figured out how to limit the damage he could inflict, only to see him beat them a completely different way. Great players can't be held down indefinitely - you can stop them for a while, but eventually they're going to figure out a way to beat you.
  5. Sara
    47. Posted by Sara Fri Oct 30 4:00pm EDT

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    If scoring more goals was just a matter of putting more shots on net, why doesn't every player do so. Isn't having a $100 million contract worth it.
  6. Andrew
    46. Posted by Andrew Fri Oct 30 3:44pm EDT

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    I don't like the Washington Capitals. But i do like Ovechkin he is a good two way hockey player and fun two watch the capitals are a good team . Just like the red wings don't like them but they are a good team always fun to watch tough to play against.
  7. kroc
    45. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 3:13pm EDT

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    Kris:

    Haha. Well, getting more shots on goal DOES increase your chances of actually putting the puck in the back of the net, but I guess my main point is: just to get that many shots on goal while being double and triple-teamed most of the time takes major skill, let alone scoring as many goals as he does.
  8. Kris
    44. Posted by Kris Fri Oct 30 3:04pm EDT

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    #46 Kroc - Of course everyone could score as much as AO if they took that many shots! That is, everyone who's as fast, strong, and agile as AO and has the same quick shot release, knack for finding (or creating) open ice to shoot from, and nose for the net. Put in those qualifiers, and "everyone" becomes a very, very small pool of players.
  9. kroc
    43. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 2:47pm EDT

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    "Ever notice how the haters are usually fans of teams that have been victimized by Ovechkin or Crosby or Malkin?"

    Uh... Wouldn't that be pretty much EVERY team?
    Sure, any hockey fan would take Crosby on their favorite team and learn to like him.

    Facts: Crosby complains more than most. Ovechkin and Malkin aren't particularly attractive guys. All three are great hockey players.

    What gets me is when hockey ignorants spew out complete garbage like "Anyone could do what AO does if they took that many shots." Seriously, that demonstrates complete hockey ignorance. Getting shots on goal is impressive in itself when you've got two or three defensemen draping over you at every turn. The D-men aren't just standing around letting him shoot. They're trying their best to STOP him from shooting because they know his shots are extremely dangerous, they fool goalies and they win games.

    Sure, if scoring more goals was a simple matter of getting more shots on goal, and getting more shots on goal was a simple matter of slapping the puck with your stick in the general direction of the goalie, everyone could be as prolific a goal-scorer as Ovechkin. So why aren't they?

    Does anyone seriously believe there are any players out there thinking, "Gee, I could easily put more shots on goal, score tons of goals, win more games and be a superstar, but I just don't want to..."
  10. Kris
    42. Posted by Kris Fri Oct 30 2:05pm EDT

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    Ever notice how the haters are usually fans of teams that have been victimized by Ovechkin or Crosby or Malkin? Anyone who knows anything about hockey would be thrilled to have any of those players on their team. Let the haters call them cherry-pickers or dirty hitters or whiners - you know they'd gladly take them given half a chance!
  11. Capital Punishment
    41. Posted by Capital Punishment Fri Oct 30 1:38pm EDT

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    So all you Ovechkin haters are saying the guy with the most points, goals, shots and best +/- is just a cherry picking, selfish goal scorer? LOL. I know Caps fans say bad things about Crosby and Malkin all the time too, and they're just as silly, but come on! Ovechkin plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. And if your right side defenseman isn't going to cross the redline, there is no need for Alex to go back into the defensive zone as the point is his job to cover. Other teams create the space he needs by hanging back. Unlike a center, his job isn't to be the first one back, unless the center in the offensive zone has gone in deep and he's rotated to the top of the circle. Learn a little about hockey before you speak.
  12. christopher
    40. Posted by christopher Fri Oct 30 1:32pm EDT

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    Kroc,
    You hit a good point. Crosby is widley despised by people who are not fans of the Penguins. The NHL has made him the poster child for the league and I can understand where people, Including fellow players, are fed up with the hype. See my comment #31 and you will know that I am Pens first but also a fan of the game and I think there is alot of great talent out there. The NHL is the most exciting sport that most of this country is missing. The run for the Cup far exceeds any other sports post season play for excitement, action and heart. The thing is that the biggest knock on Crosby is he is a whiner. Well, he is also a Winner and I, like most of the critics, will take him any day of the week
  13. kroc
    39. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 1:16pm EDT

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    christopher...

    Every team has a captain. However, only ONE PARTICULAR captain received 52% of the vote from the guys who actually play with him for being the whiniest player on the ice. That's my point: Crosby is a whiner.

    Unlike most of the Pens fans in this thread who, with a straight face, are trying to convince themselves that Ovechkin is a talentless hack, all I'm saying is that Crosby has very strong reputation of being a whiner and, given the evidence, I don't see how that can be disputed.

    Yes, Crosby's extremely talented. Of course he is. But Pens fans always try to make excuses for Crosby about why he's so widely despised: "You're just jealous, that's why you hate him. It's because he's so good and you don't have him..." Couldn't it possibly be because he's such a whiner?

    One could certainly argue that Ovechkin and Malkin are at least as talented as Crosby, yet they're not as widely despised as Crosby.
  14. kroc
    38. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 1:04pm EDT

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    @ das:

    Great post.

    While I agree with you that the Caps don't look like a Cup contender at the moment (their D is way too porous), most people would've said the same thing about the Penguins as late as this past February.
  15. christopher
    37. Posted by christopher Fri Oct 30 1:01pm EDT

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    Kroc,
    The Captain speaks on behalf of the entire team. Crosby was named Captain last season. If you are telling me that Crosby jaws at the refs for only his own problems and not on behalf of his teammates then you are just another jealous fan of whoever. All these comments about Crosby are the same. If he was playing for any other team watch how fast his sweater becomes the number 1 seller in their town. Now take these peers of Hockey and ask them another question. Would you like Crosby on your team. Gee, what percentage of these fellow players would say no. I live in NYC. How they would heckle and boo and yell explicit language at Jagr. Then when he was a Ranger, you should have seen all the Jagr sweaters at the Garden. What a Joke.
  16. Das Schutzenfest
    36. Posted by Das Schutzenfest Fri Oct 30 12:49pm EDT

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    While it's pretty obvious to me that Washington is not a Cup contender, --yet-- no one can deny that Ovechkin has been on an absolute tear so far this season. No, I don't like him, but damn he's a beast. I was hoping that Malkin would really come out his shell to challenge him as a goal scorer this year, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
    I can be contented thus far with the idea that the Caps are not a complete team, and, while threatening, don't have what it takes to go all the way. But, it's a long season... I don't want to be eating those words come June.
    For people not to like Ovechkin is one thing, but for people to say that he's talentless is another. I don't care for his antics, but his skills are undeniable.
  17. kroc
    35. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 12:24pm EDT

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    Oh, and christopher? You wrote:

    "...until Malkin and Staal's emergence, who do you think is the most targeted player on that team for slashes, holds and cheap shots. It isn't rocket science."

    Except the NHL player survey I mentioned was taken earlier THIS YEAR. So, obviously, Malkin and Staal had already "emerged". This was a survey of questions asked of NHL players about their peers.
  18. kroc
    34. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 12:19pm EDT

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    @ christopher:

    The way I look at that poll is that NHL players know a hell of a lot more about each other than any homer fan would.

    Last I checked, every team has a captain. You don't get 52% of the vote by your NHL peers for being the biggest whiner on the ice if you're not a whiner.
  19. christopher
    33. Posted by christopher Fri Oct 30 12:06pm EDT

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    @35. What's your point? There are 2 ways to look at that poll. Crosby haters = Cry baby. Crosby fans= Smart. Mario Lemieux was rumored to be the inspiration for the dive rule to draw penalties. As some of the penalties are judgement calls, how clever is it to try and give your team the edge with a power play. Also Crosby wears the Captain "C" which means he is the only one that is allowed to confront the refs. Ovechkin isn't the Captain. Lastley, until Malkin and Staal's emergence, who do you think is the most targeted player on that team for slashes, holds and cheap shots. It isn't rocket science. The goons always try to take out the one guy that can hurt him.
  20. kroc
    32. Posted by kroc Fri Oct 30 11:53am EDT

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    OK, enough of the mindless homerism of your typical sports fan, many of whom obviously just make s**t up, as evidenced by this thread. Which player is more respected among his own NHL peers?

    Ovechkin:
    Pearson award the past two years (MVP voted on by the NHL players)
    Top vote getter for ESPN.com 2009 NHL player survey for the question: "If you could change lives with another player, who would it be?"

    Crosby:
    Top vote getter for ESPN.com 2009 NHL player survey for the question: "Which player complains the most on the ice?" (Crosby won at a whopping 52%. Next closest player was Chris Pronger at 8%.)
  21. Hawks Fan
    31. Posted by Hawks Fan Fri Oct 30 11:40am EDT

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    @ 31. Well said! They are both great players and are a great fit for the team they play for.
  22. christopher
    30. Posted by christopher Fri Oct 30 11:12am EDT

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    Always the people with their childish comments, like "Cindy" Crosby and "Greedy, Self serving" Ovechkin. I am a Penguins fan but I am also a fan of Hockey and here is the truth, like it or not.
    Crosby is one of the best players in the NHL for his creativity, skating ability, Game intelligence and un-selfish play. Ovechkin is one of the best players in the NHL for his speed, shooting ability, hitting and tenacious attitude. Last year they gave you everything you could ask for by both scoring a hat trick in the same game and an exciting 7 game series. The Caps are up and coming and dangerous to any one they play. The Penguins are the Champions and deserve the respect as such. this is going to be a growing rivalry for the next few years and should bring loads of entertainment. Heckling the enemy and supporting your own team is fun but comments like " he sucks, your City sucks", or stupid nick names for certain players just makes you look retarded.
  23. Spock
    29. Posted by Spock Fri Oct 30 10:44am EDT

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    Good first 2 periods for the CAPS. Good 3rd period for the Thrashers. As for the OV-Crosby thing. This is exactly what you see on the basketball threads (LeBron-Kobe). Seen this kind of talk before . . . . Shaq, Gretzky, Mario would never win a championship-are not great players etc. Good win for the CAPS!!!!
  24. mike
    28. Posted by mike Fri Oct 30 10:40am EDT

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    Tho not a Caps fan I can't help but comment the pens fans gotta post in on anything Ovie sucks ye sure he does puck hog, gets 300 shots bla blah if its so easy have your player take the shots (if they can) and see what they get shows how dumb people are the guy is the best player in the NHL but yet you can't admit it top 3 in East Ovie Malkin Richards
  25. Brian S
    27. Posted by Brian S Fri Oct 30 10:24am EDT

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    Pens Fans............ You won your cup,Cindy is great,all is good. Say what you will about Ovie,but the fact remains, he was voted MVP by his peers 2 years in a row. By the guys who played against him, not you farking losers.
    Looks like he might make it 3 in a row.
    Ovie will get his cup.
    Have fun without Gino.
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