Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was criticized this offseason by former players for not being willing to reward his role players when they were outperforming his go-to guys.
Well, that wasn't the case Tuesday night. Boudreau called a timeout with 1:27 left against the Anaheim Ducks and his team trailing by a goal.
After the timeout, Boudreau sent out Marcus Johansson, Mike Knuble and Matt Hendricks as his forwards. Twenty-five seconds later there was another stoppage of play, and he deployed Brooks Laich, Joel Ward and Jason Chimera, along with Nicklas Backstrom as the extra attacker.
Twice he made the decision to not use captain Alex Ovechkin in a spot where the two-time MVP always plays for the Capitals.
"I got to put out the guys that I think are going to score the goal," Boudreau said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, Alex is the guy I think is going to score the goal. I just didn't think he was going to score the goal at that time tonight."
Backstrom delivered the tying goal with 42 seconds left, and eventually scored the winner in overtime. Versus reporter Keith Jones interviewed Ovechkin and asked him about not playing in his normal role at the end of the game -- he didn't see the ice in the final 3:11 of regulation.
"I think the [Joel Ward]-Brooks Laich line play unbelievable today," Ovechkin said. "They score like four goals. It's coach's decision, so it's working."
After the game though, Versus showed a clip of what transpired as the timeout with 1:27 left was concluding. Ovechkin had an exchange with Boudreau, and after the coach walked behind him and toward the other end of the bench, the Capitals captain appeared to voice his displeasure with the situation.
Ovechkin did not talk to reporters in the dressing room after the game.
"In this case Alex Ovechkin has to show a lot more respect to his coaching staff and to his team," Versus analyst Mike Keenan said. "There's a response here that's not a positive response. I give Bruce Boudreau a lot of credit for making this decision. He's delivering a message to the star player and his team. That kind of behavior on the ice is not acceptable. Details have to be looked at if [the Capitals] are going to be a championship team."
The Laich-Chimera-Ward line has excelled for the Capitals this season, and they were on the ice for Washington's first two goals against the Ducks.
Ovechkin had four shots on net in the game, but 17:51 of ice time in a game that went to overtime and one in which the Capitals trailed most of the way is a lot less than Boudreau typically allots for his captain -- those are the types of contests that Ovechkin typically has racked up as much as 25 minutes or more in the past.
"You watched the game -- you tell me," Boudreau said of Ovechkin's performance. "I don't know -- it just wasn't working for him."
