huangjian123
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 Posted: 30 Jan 2019 07:14 Post subject: Green Bay Packers Elite Jerseys |
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WASHINGTON (AP) Alex Ovechkin is built like a linebacker with the motor of a steam engine and the mentality of a wrecking ball.He can score like no other player of this generation and few in history and has the physicality to match. That was evident from his first NHL shift when he powered up ice and crushed Columbus defenseman Radoslav Suchy so hard it knocked out the stanchion between the panes of plexiglass.Ovechkin at 32 is no longer the human bulldozer he once was Jakub Vrana Jersey , but his hard-hitting style never put a dent in his prime years as he became the fourth-fastest player to 600 goals . On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Washington Capitals‘ 2004 No. 1 pick will be the first player from that draft class to play 1,000 NHL regular-season games, a testament to his durability that is also difficult to duplicate in modern hockey.”That he has reached 1,000 games this quickly is an amazing accomplishment with the way he plays,” Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said. ”These are big men, and the league has gotten faster but it’s also gotten much more fit, and that Alex has been able to span those generations and continue to play and be incredibly productive is really a historic feat.”In 13 seasons, Ovechkin has missed more than four games only once and never missed more than 10. Take out the eight games for suspensions and the Russian winger has only sat out for injury 21 times out of a possible 1,028.”I heard a couple years ago that he said he’s the Russian Machine,” longtime teammate Nicklas Backstrom said. ”That probably has something to do with it.”Ovechkin brushed off an injury in his second season with the now-famous line, ”Russian machine never breaks.” Ovechkin has played through knee and back pain and finished one playoff series on a fractured foot, illustrating his pain tolerance while also avoiding the kinds of serious injuries that derail other players’ careers.Goaltender Braden Holtby pointed out that it helps Ovechkin to not kill penalties and risk injuries in those situations while also marveling at how the Moscow native is built. His 6-foot-3 Derek Ryan Jersey Womens , 235-pound frame gives him the tools to punish opponents with his body as much as his shot.”When you’re big guy like Ovi, you’re not gonna be afraid to hit no one,” Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov said. ”And when people gonna hit you, they’re gonna feel it, for sure.”When Barry Trotz coached in Nashville, he remembered players seeing Ovechkin down the hallway cutting his stick and whispering about how big he was. Ovechkin had that intimidating presence to him.”Trust me, we had a lot of nervous defensemen,” Trotz said. ”We had a couple of nervous cats.”Watching Ovechkin’s sometimes reckless play could have at one point made the Capitals nervous, too, because of how valuable he is and how important it is he stay healthy. In recent years, he has toned it down with age and as hockey has gotten faster with lower priorities on hitting.”As soon as you get a little older, you realize when you have to get a hit and when you have to take a hit,” Ovechkin said. ”You can see right now in the playoffs it’s different hockey. Of course John Carlson Jersey , every shift you try to do something out there, but in the regular year you don’t have to run around and hit everybody because if a game is 5-2 or 4-1 you don’t have to do it. Obviously you have to play smarter and try to do different things.”Evolving his game as a scorer and a power forward has helped Ovechkin get to this point where he’s on the verge of leading the league in goals for the seventh time and reach 50 for the eighth time.If Ovechkin, who still has Stanley Cup aspirations and three years left on his contract, maintains this level of durability and wants to keep playing in North America toward age 40, reaching 1,500 games isn’t out of the question.”There are a lot of players that have played 1,000 games but not as many players have scored 600 goals,” Leonsis said. ”If he takes cares of himself – which he has been, he looks great – he can play a lot of years in the league.”— GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Derek Stepan gathered the puck near Arizona’s blue line and flipped it toward the other end, hoping to kill a few extra seconds off Ottawa’s power play. The puck skittered off the ice and slipped through the goalie’s pads, a dump-in turned into an unexpected goal.A little lucky? Maybe, but the Coyotes are also creating good fortune by playing hard and smart during a four-game winning streak.Stepan scored his short-handed goal in Arizona’s three-goal first period and Antti Raanta stopped 25 shots Lars Eller Jersey , lifting the surging Coyotes to a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.“You earn your bounces,” Stepan said. “We had some bounces going the other way early on in the year, now they’re starting to go our way and in a few weeks, they’re going to come back the other way. Good teams find ways to win any given night regardless of the bounces.”The Coyotes opened the season 1-4-0, shut out three times their first four games. Once Arizona started scoring, the pucks have kept finding the net.The Coyotes chased Ottawa goalie Mike Condon with three goals on 10 shots in the first period, capped by Stepan’s short-hander. Arizona has short-handed goals in three straight games for the second time in franchise history (1985), with five in that span.Alex Galchenyuk notched his first goal with Arizona and had an assist on Oliver Ekman Larsson’s power-play goal in the third period. Brad Richardson and Richard Panik also scored for the Coyotes, who have outscored opponents 20-4 during the four-game winning streak.“It’s hard to score goals in this league and we’ve got a good mojo going right now,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said.The Senators don’t.Coming off an overtime loss at Vegas on Sunday, Ottawa was flat early while falling into a big hole. The Senators seemed to gain momentum on Alex Forementon’s first goal of the season in the second period, but Arizona scored 22 seconds later. The Senators have lost three straight.“That was our first stinker,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said. “We got out-competed in the first period and that usually doesn’t happen.”Arizona beat Tampa Bay 7-1 on Saturday and didn’t take long to keep the scoring going. Galchneyuk created a turnover by knocking away Mark Stone’s stick and slipped the puck behind Condon’s pads 4 1/2 minutes in. Richardson scored two minutes later Madison Bowey Jersey , one-timing Michael Grabner’s pass from behind the goal.Stepan made it 3-0 late in the first period with a tumbling puck from Arizona’s blue line that squirted through Condon’s pads and sent him to the bench, replaced by Craig Anderson.“You give a team three goals, 90 percent of the time you’re not coming back,” Senators center Chris Tierney said.Tierney nearly got Ottawa back in it a minute into the second period, getting a goal reinstated upon review after it was initially waved off for high-sticking. But then it was waved off after Arizona’s challenge for goalie interference was upheld.Another Coyotes challenge for goalie interference did not pan out and Forementon’s goal stood, seemingly giving the Senators momentum.Instead, Panik scored 22 seconds later, beating Anderson from between the circles.“That was a big goal for us right there,” Galchenyuk said. “You don’t know which way it’s going to go, but we’re confident and we were able to make a statement.”Notes: Senators D Mark Borowiecki sat out the first of a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Vegas F Cody Eakin on Sunday. … Coyotes D Kevin Connauton missed the game due to an illness. … Ottawa F Brady Tkachuk began skating this week for the first time since suffering a torn leg ligament on Oct. 15. … The Coyotes have won three straight over Ottawa for the first time since taking five in a row from 1994-96.UP NEXTThe Senators host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.The Coyotes host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
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