Which is why Ovechkin’s ice time in Monday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs raised an eyebrow or two. It was under Hunter that Ovechkin averaged less than 20 minutes of ice time for the first time in his career. There’s an old NHL joke that the only man who ever successfully shut down Alex Ovechkin was Dale Hunter. Maybe Trotz is saving Ovechkin’s legs for the Game 7 the Capitals have been insisting is possible since Game 2. Ovechkin played about 20 minutes in an unremarkable Game 1 and nearly 25 minutes in Game 2, when he scored a goal and put nine shots on goal.

Source: thestar April 18, 2017 23:48 UTC