The NHL announced today that Alexander Ovechkin was named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Ovechkin won the award twice in a row in 2007-08 and 2008-09.  He was also a finalist for the award in 2009-10. 

Photo: Washington Post

Already a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award as the league's most outstanding player as voted on by his peers, Alex Ovechkin makes an easy case for most valuable player, as well.   The first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft captained the Capitals to the Southeast Division championship, leading them out of a season-opening slump.  The team started the season 2-8-1, but Ovechkin scored 23 goals and 36 points over the final 23 games as the team went 17-4-2 to secure a playoff spot.  The right-winger led the league in goals with 32 and finished third in points with 56.  He led the league in powerplay scoring with 16 goals and 27 points on the league's top powerplay unit.  The puck was always on his stick: he led the league with 220 shots on goal and 98 shots that missed the target.  He played all 48 games and finished 7th in total ice time among forwards (1,002:27, or 20:53 per game), but first in powerplay ice time (220:30, 4:35 per game).  He also finished 21st among forwards in hits with 120 and snagged 30 takeaways to only 25 giveaways.  Ovechkin also went 3-for-3 in shootouts, all wins, and scored 4 game-winning goals. 

The second finalist for the award was center John Tavares of the New York Islanders.  The first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Tavares led the Islanders with 28 goals and 47 points, helping them to a playoff berth for the first time since 2007.  He also led the team with 5 game-winning goals and scored on 3 of his 6 shootout attempts.  He placed 3rd in the NH with 28 goals and 9 powerplay goals  The Islanders' alternate captain played all 48 games and finished 8th among forwards in total ice time, with 997:11, or 20:46 per game.  This is his first nomination for a major NHL award. 

The other finalist was the first overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, center Sidney Crosby. 

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#6 New York Rangers at #3 Washington Capitals
Series Tied 2-2
Location:  Verizon Center
Time: 7:30 PM
TV:  Local: CSN, National: NBCSN, Canada: TSN
Radio: 1500AM & 820AM
Previous Games:
Game 1, May 2 in Washington: 3-1 W
Game 2, May 4 in Washington, 1-0 W (OT)
Game 3, May 6 in New York, 3-4 L
Game 4, May 8 in New York, 3-4 L
Remaining Games:
Game 6, May 12 in New York, TBD
Game 7*, May 13 in Washington, TBD
*If necessary
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals:  D Steve Eminger (212 GP, 2002-08)

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Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The NHL announced today that Alexander Ovechkin was named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay award as the league's most outstanding player, as voted on by his peers.  The award, previously named the Lester B. Pearson Award, is voted on by the members of NHL Players Association.  Ovechkin won the award three seasons in a row from 2007-08 through 2009-10.  He was also a finalist for the award in his rookie season of 2005-06. 

By many standards, Alex Ovechkin was the most outstanding player in the league.  He was certainly the flashiest and helped his team capture the Southeast Division title. He led the league in goals with 32, no one else had more than 29.  He led the league with 16 powerplay goals on the league's top powerplay unit, no one else had more than 10.  Ovechkin finished third in league scoring with 56 points and led the league with 27 powerplay points.  He led the league with 220 shots on goal, 30 more than second place, and fired another 98 shots that missed the target.  He played all 48 games and finished 7th in total ice time among forwards (1,002:27), but first in powerplay ice time (220:30), more than 18 minutes ahead of second place.  He also finished 21st among forwards in hits with 120, snagged 30 takeaways to only 25 giveaways, and went 3-for-3 in shootouts, all wins.  Of course, he did this while switching from left wing to right wing. 

The league's leading scorer, Martin St. Louis, was also named a finalist for the award.  St. Louis paced the league with 43 assists and 60 points, all at the tender age of 37, making him the oldest player ever to win the Art Ross Trophy,.  St. Louis also finished second in total ice time among forwards (1,055:12), less than two minutes behind league leader Steven Stamkos. Like Ovechkin, St. Louis also has a full trophy case, having won this award in 2003-04, the first time he won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer and the Hart Trophy as league MVP, all in the same season he won the Stanley Cup.  He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player twice in a row starting in 2009-10.  St. Louis will have a harder time winning the award because his team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, missed the playoffs. 

The other finalist was Sidney Crosby. 

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The Washington Capitals announced today they have recalled RW Tom Wilson and RW Joey Crabb from the AHL Hershey Bears.  The Bears were eliminated last night after taking the #1 seed Providence Bruins to the brink in their best-of-5 first round series. 

The big story revolves around 19-year old prospect Tom Wilson, a right-shooting 6'4, 210-lb winger.  Wilson was the 16th overall pick in last June's draft and participated in Capitals training camp in January.  He was ultimately returned to his junior team, where he was the 5th-leading scorer for the Ontario Hockey League Plymouth Whalers.  He scored 23 goals and 58 points in just 48 games, more than doubling his totals in those categories from last year.  He was his team's 4th leading scorer in the playoffs, posting 9 goals and 17 points in 12 games before the Whalers were eliminated by Dale Hunter's London Knights in the second round.  After his junior season ended, Wilson made his professional debut by suiting up in 3 AHL playoff games with the Hershey Bears, scoring a third period go-ahead goal in a Game 4 loss.  Wilson is a big, rangy scoring winger in the mold of Eric Fehr but with more of a power-forward mindset.  He posted 245 penalty minutes over his last two seasons in junior and likes to dish out big hits and yap at opposing players.  It is possible he could see his first NHL action as soon as Game 5, as there is now a lineup opening with the injury to winger Martin Erat.  Wilson's OHL stats can be found here.

Also recalled was 6'1, 190-lb Joey Crabb, who continues his multi-league odyssey this season.  After signing a 1-year deal with the Capitals in the off-season, the Anchorage native was forced to start the season with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL because of the lockout.  The 30-year old posted 17 goals and 38 points in 35 ECHL games before  joining the Capitals in January.  After posting 11 goals and 26 points last season with Toronto, the offense did not materialize for Crabb at the NHL level this season.  He managed just two goals in 26 games with the big club before he was waived on March 23.  After Crabb cleared waivers, he was assigned to the AHL Hershey Bears, where he skated on the first line and posted 6 goals and 12 points in 12 games.  He was a constant presence in the playoffs, too, scoring 5 goals in the 5-game series for the Bears.  At the NHL level, Crabb does have some offensive upside, but on this team he would likely be used in a 4th-line role.  He is a quality NHL player but was ultimately squeezed out of the lineup by the return of injured players and the waiver acquisition of Aaron Volpatti, not because he wasn't playing well, and his presence in the lineup could be a boost for the Caps.  Crabb's stats can be found here.

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The Washington Capitals put forth another undisciplined, unfocused effort tonight, giving pucks away and taking bad penalties.  The Rangers are now back in this series, tied 2-2, as the series shifts back to Washington for Game 5.  Rangers Coach John Tortorella used his line changes to his advantage and had the benefit of very uneven officiating to get the win. 

The Captials were able to get some sustained pressure in the Rangers end early in the game, forcing the Rangers to take a penalty, but a gaffe by Braden Holtby put an end to any momentum the Caps had. 

With 3 and a half minutes remaining in the first period, the Rangers dumped the puck down the ice and the linesmen washed out icing, prompting Holtby to play the puck near the left corner.  As the Rangers circled out of the zone, Holtby tried sending an aerial pass up the middle of the ice that was promptly knocked down by Ranger forward Taylor Pyatt.  As Holtby panicked and scrambled to get back into his crease, Pyatt moved the puck to Carl Hagelin who banked a shot off John Carlson's shinpads.  By this time, Holtby had overreacted and flung himself through the crease and had taken himself out of position a second time, leaving the net wide open for a Brad Richards put-away to give the home team a lead going into the first intermission and the home crowd something to cheer about. 

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

#3 Washington Capitals at #6 New York Rangers
Capitals Lead Series 2-1
Location: Madison Square Garden
Time: 7:30 PM
TV:  Local: CSN, National: NBCSN, Canada: TSN
Radio: 1500AM & 820AM
Previous Games:
Game 1, May 2 in Washington: 3-1 W
Game 2, May 4 in Washington, 1-0 W (OT)
Game 3, May 6 in New York, 3-4 L
Remaining Games:
Game 5, May 10 in Washington, 7:30 PM
Game 6*, May 12 in New York, TBD
Game 7*, May 13 in Washington, TBD
*If necessary

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Photo by Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images

The Rangers used the momentum from early power plays to cut the series lead to 2-1. (MSG)

The Washington Capitals dropped a game in their 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers on Monday night, falling 4-3 to the Rangers inside the World’s Most Famous Arena.  After taking an early lead on a Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals allowed two goals before tying the game on a Mike Green tally.  After trading goals with New York in the first ten minutes of the third period, Derek Stepan broke the tie for good in close after Ryan McDonagh held the puck in at the line.  A late power play for the Capitals with 1:56 remaining failed to even produce a shot, and the Caps saw their advantage in the series cut in half.

The power play at the end of the game for Washington was brutal.  After biting so hard on Mike Ribeiro’s fake at the end of game two, did the Capitals really think that the Ranger penalty killers were going to give in to his jukes so easily with the game on the line?  I bet John Tortorella personally drilled in to each player’s head that Ribeiro doesn’t shoot on the power play.  But the Caps’s shifty center had the puck in a shooting position for a majority of the man advantage without pulling the trigger and his team paid for it, not even getting a shot on goal.  Yes, the shooting lanes were clogged, but you have to make something work in that situation and Alex Ovechkin, the team’s best power play weapon, floated unused at the left circle.  Inexcusable, especially with how great the power play has been this year.

Read on more more analysis here.

#3 Washington Capitals at #6 New York Rangers
Capitals Lead Series 2-0
Location: Madison Square Garden
Time: 7:30 PM
TV:  Local: CSN, National: NBCSN, Canada: TSN
Radio: 1500AM & 820AM
Previous Games:
Game 1, May 2 in Washington: 3-1 W
Game 2, May 4 in Washington, 1-0 W (OT)
Remaining Games:
Game 4, May 8 in New York, 7:30 PM
Game 5*, May 10 in Washington, 7:30 PM
Game 6*, May 12 in New York, TBD
Game 7*, May 13 in Washington, TBD
*If necessary
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals:  D Steve Eminger (212 GP, 2002-08)

Rangers in Danger! Read on!

Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images

Green fiiiiires....SCAAAR! (Greg Fiume, Getty)

The Washington Capitals won game two of their 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon, prevailing 1-0 in overtime on a Mike Green power play goal.  Both teams generated chances constantly during the game and the only reason that the contest remained scoreless as long as it did was the stellar play of Braden Holtby in Washington’s net but particularly Henrik Lundqvist, who rebounded from a below-par game (for him) on Thursday to nearly steal a result for his team in this game.  Holtby finished the game with 24 stops for his first career playoff shutout as Washington took a 2-0 lead in a playoff series for the first time since the Conference Quarterfinals in 2011, when they also played the Rangers and won a series in five.

How about Mike Green.  Perhaps no player on the Capitals has caught more flak than Green over the last three years other than Alex Ovechkin, and Green has spent the last three months thumbing his nose at those critics in a tremendously entertaining and thrilling fashion.  Even when Green was putting up 65 points a season, he was ripped for all of the things that he didn’t do.  Now, he’s returned to his form as one of the best pure offensive defensemen in the game, and it’s not just because of this goal, his first career playoff overtime winner.  He’s been dominant consistently over the last two months and has gotten the offensive results to prove.  I’ll never forget that I was once told the Caps should trade him for Douglas Murray – and that would be a steal for Washington.

Read on for more about this thrilling win.

#6 New York Rangers at #3 Washington Capitals
Capitals Lead Series 1-0
Location:  Verizon Center
Time: 12:30 PM
TV:  Local/National: NBC, Canada: TSN
Radio: 1500AM & 820AM
Previous Game:
Game 1, May 2 in Washington: 3-1 W
Remaining Games:
Game 3, May 6 in New York, 7:30 PM
Game 4, May 8 in New York, 7:30 PM
Game 5*, May 10 in Washington, 7:30 PM
Game 6*, May 12 in New York, TBD
Game 7*, May 13 in Washington, TBD
*If necessary
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals:  D Steve Eminger (212 GP, 2002-08)

No sitting around!  Read on!

Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images