Ovechkin needs a beatdown, Avery just stupid

April 21, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Alex Ovechkin is probably the best player in the sport and very exciting to watch. The flair he brings is something hockey needs because at times, our star players are too bland.

However, the fiery Russian occasionally goes overboard. Such was the case following last night’s 4-0 Game Three win which got the Capitals back in the series. After the victory, a pumped up Ovechkin did his celebratory leap into teammate Nicklas Backstrom ticking off Ranger fans who remained.

By that point, I’d made my way down. So, I missed it along with the two Cap stars mockingly doing the Ranger stick salute which only caused more aggravation with some drunken fans resorting to tossing plastic bottles on the ice. Even if instigated, the silly action of a few was embarrassing and reflects poorly for the rest of the fans who can control themselves.

Puck Daddy’s Sean Leahy had an interesting take on the postgame festivities along with the latest dumb move by Sean Avery, who late in the game while on a power play punched Washington netminder Simeon Varlamov picking up his fourth minor penalty and earning a game misconduct. Here’s what happened:

The look on John Tortorella says it all. When asked about all the penalties, he didn’t mince words indicating penalties were called and they had nothing to do with why his team stunk. They were flat and paid the price. Now it’s a series and Game Four becomes crucial if the Rangers are to have any chance at pulling an upset.

As for Ovechkin’s latest antics, it becomes increasingly clear that he’s taking it to a new level. I can deal with the goal celebrations as it shows passion and how badly he wants to win. But what he and Backstrom did afterwards was bush league. I’d love to see a Ranger put him through the glass for that tomorrow night but that has absolutely no chance of happening. Instead, I’d settle for Marc Staal continuing to play physical as he got a few good hits on Ovie last night.

That along with a more disciplined Ranger team who actually gets traffic in front of Varlamov making life difficult would go a long way to getting the much needed win which would put the Blueshirts in the driver’s seat. They can’t concern themselves with whatever Ovechkin’s doing including sitting in at Ranger practice before being asked to leave by the PR staff Monday.

They need to focus on the task at hand which is coming out like they care instead of looking like they saw dead people. Support Henrik Lundqvist, who was amazing for a guy who gave up four goals last night because that game easily could’ve been 11 or 12 zip.

Tomorrow, thankfully, the cheesy Thunderstix will be ditched in favor of more traditional playoff towels which our fans will wave. The Garden also needs to be louder than it was for Game Three. Maybe it was because of those laser light blue Stix but I didn’t feel as much energy as I normally do from the crowd. We need to make the place rock.

As for Avery, he really could be suspended for that silly move. The NHL is watching him closely and has already suspended two players (Daniel Carcillo & Milan Lucic) for any kind of message sending. Even if it wasn’t as bad as what the other two did, it’s still moronic and could get punished by a very sensitive league that won’t tolerate any shenanigans.

With the Rangers so thin at forward with it looking like captain Chris Drury will be out for tomorrow night with either Aaron Voros back in or possibly Artem Anisimov recalled, Avery needs to be smarter. Unfortunately, that’s not a word in his dictionary. The team needs him on the ice hitting and being the effective agitator he can be without bending the rules. The first two games, he played within himself taking only one minor penalty as opposed to the ridiculous 18 PIM he got last night.

It’s been said before but the Rangers can’t take that many penalties against that team because their power play is dangerous. I don’t care how good our PK is. We need to play the Caps at even strength.

With less than 24 hours until the big game, I’m left really wondering how they’ll respond. I know Lundqvist will be ready. Will they?