“This is hockey, not ballet”: how Ovechkin’s tough power reception became a subject of controversy in the USA

The second defeat of “Washington” in a week and goals Kuznetsova with Ovechkin

The match with the Montreal Canadiens turned out to be truly disastrous for Washington. The leader of the Eastern Conference conceded five goals and suffered a second defeat in his last three matches. Prior to this, on Tuesday, “Capitals” in the shootings lost to “Arizona Coyotes” - 3: 4.

This time, the team of Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov could not cope with a strong “Montreal” - 2: 5. At the same time, the first period ended without goals, but in the second the hosts missed four at once in just over eight minutes.

Only after that did Ovechkin and Kuznetsov manage to reduce the backlog. First, Alexander in the majority distinguished himself with a corporate click from the left circle of the face-off, and then Evgeny Kuznetsov jumped one on one with the goalkeeper and realized his moment. True, “Montreal” in a couple of minutes scored the fifth goal and put an end to the match.

As for statistics, Ovechkin chalked up the 14th goal in the current season and scored 24th point for performance (10 + 14). In the NHL regular championship sniper race, the Russian striker is second only to David Pastrnyak of Boston (16) and Leon Dreisaitl of Edmonton (15). Kuznetsov’s asset now has exactly 19 points (9 + 10).

“Druen did not see me, but the power was clean.”

However, in relation to Ovechkin after the game, everyone did not discuss his next puck in the majority at all, but the moment that occurred at the beginning of the second period when the score was 0-0. In his half of the court, the Russian decided to come to the aid of the defender and literally flew into the striker of the rivals Jonathan Druen in the face-off.

The episode looked rather tough, but the judges left him unattended and did not punish Ovechkin in any way. At the same time, Druin was seriously injured. He barely got to his feet and, with the help of doctors, left the ice. Later, the Montreal coach Claude Julien said the hockey player suspected a concussion.

SMOKED. pic.twitter.com/9eMP5QD0K3

Despite this, Druin returned to the game at the beginning of the final period. And other Montreal hockey players avenged their partner, who literally left Washington no chance.

After the match in America, a huge amount of controversy erupted over the power reception of Ovechkin. Someone considered it frankly dirty, while others called the actions of Alexander completely legitimate. He himself emphasized that he acted absolutely cleanly, and therefore disputes on this topic are inappropriate.

“This is hockey, not ballet. I don’t know ... This is a game episode. He did not see me. The power reception was clean. There is nothing more to say, ”journalist Adam Zelonka quoted Ovechkin on his Twitter.

A little later, commenting on the outcome of the meeting, the forward emphasized that “Washington” on Friday “did not play their hockey.”

“We had a lot of losses in the middle zone, and it cost us the result. We know that we must and can play better. You yourself saw everything. We understand that this is our fault, ”the official website of the NHL quotes Ovechkin.

In turn, the former tough guy Georges Larak called Ovechkin’s actions illegal.

“I think Ovi jumped up. The League needs to watch the episode and deal with this moment, ”said Larak on his Twitter.

However, in this matter he was opposed by the famous hockey expert Pierre Lebrun. In his opinion, even the fact that Ovechkin jumped before a clash with Druen is not a violation.

“I agree that he torn his skates off the ice. But, as I see, the separation (or most of it) occurs after contact. Of course, I could be wrong, but this is my opinion, ”Lebrune noted on his page in Jetsheeuk.

At the same time, Druen's agent Alan Walsh stood up for his client.

“How can we talk about power reception after contact? Watch the episode in slow motion carefully. Ovi was clearly in the air before the contact, ”he wrote.