Ovechkin vs. Lundqvist 2012: Ovechkin's limited ice-time leads to limited results originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Before they were teammates, Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Lundqvist were rivals on the ice with Ovechkin being one of the top goal scorers and Lundqvist being a top goalie. Their rivalry developed through five playoff matchups against each other. This week, we are looking back at each one. Today's series is 2012.
The matchup
No. 1 New York vs. No. 7 Washington
The 2011-12 season for Washington was a tumultuous one as Bruce Boudreau was fired on Nov. 28 and replaced by Dale Hunter behind the bench. A Capitals team with high hopes found itself limping into the postseason as the No. 7 seed. Though his goal total was up slightly from the year before, Ovechkin managed only 65 points for the season which remains a career-low if you exclude the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season.
But while the Hunter-lead Caps had some glaring issues, the team managed to come together in the playoffs to upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in the first round in seven games. Rookie goalie Braden Holtby stepped into the starting role and was phenomenal for Washington while Joel Ward provided the series-clinching overtime goal.
New York established itself as a Cup contender in John Tortorella's third full season as head coach for the Rangers. New York won its first division title since the 1993-94 Cup run and finished first in the conference. Lundqvist had a lot to do with that in what would prove to be the best season of his storied career. He managed career bests in wins (39), save percentage (.930) and GAA (1.97). For his efforts, Lundqvist won the Vezina, the only one of his career, and finished third in the voting for the Hart Trophy as the league MVP.
This was the third postseason meeting between Ovechkin and Lundqvist.
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The results
Ovechkin: 3 goals, 1 assist in seven games
Lundqvist: .927 save percentage, 1.66 GAA
New York won the series 4-3
The biggest challenge Ovechkin faced in this series was not Lundqvist, but Hunter, his own head coach.
While most people do not remember Hunter's time behind the bench in Washington fondly, I think it is important to note that a team that, through much of its history, chronically underachieved in the postseason, actually overachieved with Hunter. Washington upset Boston and came up just one goal short in seven games against the top team in the conference. Hunter deserves some credit for that.
But one thing that Hunter did that was absolutely indefensible was limiting his own top player. New York didn't have to worry about how to limit Ovechkin. Hunter did that for them.
In seven games, Ovechkin played in fewer than 16 minutes in three of them. In Game 2, he scored the game-winner and fired seven shots on goal despite getting just 13:36 of ice time. Two of his three goals came on the power play.
Ovechkin was never going to be as effective as he could have been given how he was managed by Hunter. With that in mind, it is actually really impressive Ovechkin was still able to get three goals past Lundqvist.
Though you can't really say Ovechkin got the better of Lundqvist, he did in Game 4 when he fired a one-timer from the point. Lundqvist tried to glove it, but the puck bounced right off the glove and in. His third goal of the series came in Game 6 when he was left alone in the slot on the power play. How do you let that happen?
But it wasn't enough. The Caps fell by one goal in seven games to New York. With the margin of victory so small, that really makes you think what could have been had Hunter played Ovechkin more and allowed him to be the dominant player we know he is.
