You won’t like Washington Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin when he’s angry.
Ovechkin called out one of his teammates following a miscommunication on Craig Smith’s overtime goal for the Bruins at TD Garden on Wednesday evening.
Boston took a 2-1 lead in the series after Smith capitalized on a miscommunication between Washington defenseman Justin Schultz and goalie Ilya Samsonov behind the net. Smith jumped on the loose puck and scored a wrap-around OT goal.
It’s not clear what exactly led to the error by the Capitals. Samsonov left the puck for Schultz behind the net, but the Washington blueliner appeared to be under the impression that Samsonov was playing the puck to someone else.
After Smith scored to put Boston up in the series, the NBCSN cameras showed Ovechkin breaking his stick on the bench in frustration. He later cussed out one of his teammates on his way off. Ovechkin was reportedly yelling in Russian to the 24-year-old goalie Samsonov.
According to Russian hockey reporter Slava Malamud, Ovechkin told Samsonov “Don’t sleep, b**ch”. Ovi is also believed to have ushered the words “stay in your net”.
Video:
Angry Ovechkin after Caps lose Game 3 in OT pic.twitter.com/S8yD92kTZm
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 20, 2021
Samsonov was making his first start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after getting off the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list Saturday. Samsonov played a phenomenal game aside from the overtime mishap, turning away 40 shots.
Ovechkin is one of the most passionate scorers in the NHL and clearly wants to win whenever he takes the ice. That intensity increases even more comes the postseason. Ovechkin got the 2021 playoffs going with a massive hit on David Krejci in Game 1.
The Capitals and Bruins East Division playoff series has been epic. The first three games have all gone to overtime. Game 4 will be played in Boston on Friday, May 21st.
Some things change over time, but Ovechkin’s passion for winning remains the same.