One thing that Montreal Canadiens’ fans have to be noticing is the magical year that Washington Capitals star, Alex Ovechkin is having. I’m afraid his two-goal game is just the tip of the iceberg.
That playoff overtime goal was the first of his illustrious career. That’s hard to believe since he’s played for so long and he has a Stanley Cup ring – – but here we are. Now, I think the Canadiens have to game plan more for stopping Ovechkin.
You have to try and keep Ovechkin on the outside. His stamina isn’t what it used to be so make him skate more. The Canadiens’ best defense might be holding on to the puck more than they did. That’s a total team effort that could pay dividends.
After looking at NHL Edge stats, I would boost Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier’s minutes and pull back a lot of Jayden Struble and some from Lane Hutson. And use David Savard less at the beginning of games and more from the second period on. There may be a way to give him a few more minutes but have him out there in key spots for his experience even though he has slowed down.
The Canadiens’ are playing with house money but that doesn’t mean that they can’t put a scare into the Capitals while gaining valuable playoff experience. Ovechkin is the Capitals best player once again and Montreal needs to play him tighter. I felt like he was able to roam free at times and that’s just dangerous.
Read the full article here