What have the Carolina Hurricanes done to Alex Ovechkin?

New York Times

11-05-2025

RALEIGH, N.C. — Watching Alex Ovechkin play hockey in 2025 is an interesting experience.
He's not particularly active; his line, in terms of territorial dominance, is not overly effective. His role, perhaps more than ever, is one-dimensional — but that dimension is the most important in the sport. Ovechkin is out there to score goals, and he's still quite good at it. We've all seen the proof.
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So far in the Washington Capitals' series against the Carolina Hurricanes, though, Ovechkin has come up empty. There were chances in Carolina's 4-0 Game 3 win, sure, but not much in the way of sustained pressure. Expecting that from anyone against the Hurricanes, of course, is a big ask, and it's a particular problem for Ovechkin and center Dylan Strome.
There's value in the quick-strike game. Washington has seen it firsthand. When you rely on that many eggs going into that few baskets, the risk is real.
With Strome and Ovechkin on the ice at five-on-five in the series, Washington has been out-attempted 34-22, been outshot 18-9, been outchanced 18-11 and lost high-danger chances by a margin of 10-6. So it goes in a series against the Hurricanes; for them, pressuring puck-carriers and preventing offensive zone time is a way of life.
'It's tough, right? Because (Strome and Ovechkin are a pair) that relies a lot on entries and creating off of entries. And you're just not going to get very many of those against the Carolina Hurricanes (because of) their gap control and the length and the size of their 'D.' So they have to really, really work in the offensive zone, on the forecheck, to be able to create off of a faceoff play, whatever it might be,' Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.
'You're going to have to beat someone, and that's hard for anyone, but hard for that line as well. So they just have to continue to work. It's not going to be perfect every night.'
Carolina's top pair of Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns deserves some degree of credit for handling business on Ovechkin — Burns was noticeable in that role on Saturday — but Slavin made a point to call out the forwards.
'They're back-pressuring really hard so us as a (defense), we can have tight gaps,' Slavin said. 'I think just (taking) away time and space. I know it's cliche to say, but with a guy of that caliber and the shot that he has, you have to take it away.'
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Ovechkin still leads the Capitals in five-on-five shots (7) and individual expected goals (1.17). He hasn't been invisible. He also hasn't been good enough. For better or worse, though, that can turn quickly. Washington — whether it was on Saturday or in November — relies on him for one thing above all else. Pop in a goal or two and all will be well. Simple. Doesn't need to be at five-on-five, either.
'In these series, you have one game where you make a difference offensively, and it could be the difference in the series,' Carbery said. 'And so that's the mindset that I think those guys need to have and will have: You can change a series in one game.'
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour put it well: '(Ovechkin is) gonna get his. Just hope there's not too many of them.'
One element to watch as Monday's Game 4 approaches is who the third man on the Strome-Ovechkin line will be. Aliaksei Protas, outstanding in that role during the regular season, moved back up for Game 3 after missing time with an injury, and the results were fine, but Carbery sounded open to some degree of change. Anthony Beauvillier performed well next to Ovechkin and Strome against Montreal. Would he jump back up for Game 4 if that meant dropping Protas and his ready-made, top-six skill set back down the fourth line? Would it be worth messing with the Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson-Connor McMichael line, Washington's best at five-on-five? It's an interesting question.
'The tricky part of that is those guys have been together all year long, essentially,' Carbery said. 'So (if) you're tinkering with things this time of year, you have to be careful. You want to make adjustments, but you don't want to go overboard to do something that the group is completely uncomfortable with and haven't utilized through 90-whatever games we've played this year.'
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• John Carlson had a game to forget — and he sounded like he was pretty close to doing just that. Washington's 35-year-old defenseman was on the ice for all four of Carolina's goals and played a direct role in two of them. On the first, Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov got him flat-footed after Nic Dowd's faceoff win. On the third, Eric Robinson skated past him on the outside to create a wide-open shot on Logan Thompson.
'I think I'm well aware of me and my game and what I'm capable of,' Carlson said. 'And I can be better. I'm looking forward to another chance tomorrow night. I know (there's been) a lot of noise around that, but I'm not worried about it.'
Carbery didn't sound overly concerned, either.
'I'm not going to evaluate his postseason performance off of one faceoff play or one game,' Carbery said. 'It's an unfortunate play. He'd love to have that one back, but I don't harp or focus on that. There was a lot of plays that could have gone either way last night.'
• Brind'Amour had another good line about Frederik Andersen, who was outstanding in Game 4, stopping all 21 shots he faced, including nine in the first period.
Asked if his approach was to check on Andersen, make sure he's feeling OK and get out of the way, Brind'Amour didn't fake it. 'Yep, basically,' he said. 'I don't get involved in too much of that. Listen, we've got guys that take care of that. (Goalie coach Paul Schonfelder) does a great job with the goalies. He kind of tells me how that's going. My conversation with Freddie is just what you said. We don't get technical, ever, about goaltending. I just ask him how he's doing and that's about it. As long as he feels good, he's going to be in there.'