Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin, (8) of Russia, is driven into Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala, of Finland, by defenceman Mike Komisarek during first period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday December 12, 2009.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank GunnFrank Gunn/The Canadian Press
His name may have been all over the scoresheet -and especially early on - but Alex Ovechkin had little to say following an ugly collapse in a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
With about 20 media gathered around and the visitor's dressing room at the Air Canada Centre quickly clearing out, an agitated Ovechkin answered only four questions postgame.
And there was a theme.
"We just stopped playing. We just stopped playing our game and you see the results.
"We just try to play for him [rookie netminder Michal Neuvirth] It was just his second start and we want to give him more confidence, but … they had their chances.
"I think we just stopped playing, after the second [goal] after the first 10 minutes. We didn't score 100 per cent of our chances. … Maybe if we score the third goal, maybe it's a [different]game. They came back and won the game."
As for if he thought the Leafs were much improved from when the Capitals had faced them in two meetings earlier this season, Ovechkin said, no.
"No, not a big difference."
In the early going, it had looked like Ovechkin was going to leave the Leafs speechless.
Ovechkin racked up three points by midway through the game - including a power-play goal just two minutes in - but was then on the ice for a couple Leafs goals against as Toronto stormed back. He looked particularly poor on the Leafs' fifth goal of the night, allowing Lee Stempniak to break in nearly untouched at the tail end of another of his customary long shifts.
It was the second time in three weeks Washington lost in Toronto on a Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada, and afterward, Leafs coach Ron Wilson commented on how his team's style compared to the high-flying Capitals'.
"We don't have the absolute skill that Washington has so our attention to detail has to be so much stronger than what Washington would be paying attention to," Wilson said. "I'm talking about having our sticks positioned, knowing where they are at all times. I don't think they're worried about, at any point in the game, about defending - they're thinking about scoring the next goal. And we have to kind of do a bit of both."
On the second night of a back to back, Ovechkin looked a bit gassed from the get go, strolling back into his own zone on an early power play as defenceman Mike Green collected the puck and started the rush.
Not that it mattered at that point.
After coasting through the neutral zone and to his post on the left point, Ovechkin one-timed a hot pass from Green past Vesa Toskala two minutes in.
1-0, Washington.
Three minutes later, Alex the Great found Nicklas Backstrom with a nifty pass on the backdoor and he converted easily. With nearly 55 minutes to play, the Caps' lead was up to two and their star had his 12th multipoint game of the season.
From then on, however, things were all downhill -for Washington and their star.
For all his defensive shortcomings, Ovechkin's offensive production continues to be incredible. Because he has already missed eight games due to injury and suspension, he remains well back of the NHL's points leader (Joe Thornton), but this was his 25th game of the season and the early goal gives him 21 on the campaign.
Assuming Ovechkin doesn't miss any more time, he is still on pace for his second 60-goal season and third consecutive Rocket Richard Trophy. And, given the games missed, that would make him just the fifth player in NHL history -along with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull and Jarri Kuri -to score 60 goals while playing less than 75 games in a season.
Not that that was much consolation on this night.