Alex Ovechkin stood at the net front in Game 3, looking up to the heavens in frustration after being stifled by Frederik Andersen in the Washington Capitals' shutout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
The captain just hasn't been able to catch a break in this second-round series so far, and has been held off the scoresheet completely by the Hurricanes after managing four goals in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens.
Not only that, but his utilization has been down, too. He's averaging the lowest 5-on-5 ice time of his postseason career so far against the Hurricanes with 12:10 minutes a night, the seventh-lowest total on the team. Also, in Game 2, coach Spencer Carbery chose to sit Ovechkin for the final 4:52 minutes of regulation, playing his shutdown forwards instead to defend the one-goal lead and secure the win.
Carbery spoke briefly on Ovechkin's deployment after that, saying it's not a health concern but comes down to matchups and different in-game situations.
"At this time of year, when you get into these moments, one-goal games, from a coach deployment, there’s timeouts that go into play and you’re going basically with your penalty kill guys protecting a lead and spot some other guys in at certain point," Carbery pointed out.
Ultimately, the Capitals' hand has been forced a bit in this series when it comes to playing Ovechkin.
The 39-year-old has started in the offensive zone 92.86 percent of the time in this series at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, and has only had one defensive zone start and 34 on-the-fly starts, the fourth-lowest among forwards with at least three games played in this series.
While his deployment's been a bit tricky in this series, and though he hasn't found twine, the chances are still there at 5-on-5. His 56.68 goals-for percentage ranks first among forwards, and he also leads Washington in shots-for percentage (48.94) and Corsi-for (51.58), as well as shots (8) and rebounds created (3).
On special teams, Ovechkin has, for the most part, stayed in his office, though the team's only power-play goal of the series came when he was used on the right side rather than the left.
Overall, though the underlying numbers show promise, the puck just isn't finding the back of the net right now, and in these tight playoff games, finishing is everything. And against the Hurricanes, that isn't an easy task given the oppoition's style.
"It's tough, right? Because (Dylan Strome and Ovechkin are a duo) that relies a lot on entries and creating off of entries, and you're just not going to get very many of those against the Carolina Hurricanes," Carbery said. "Their gap control and the length and the size of their D (make it difficult). So they have to really, really, really work in the offensive zone, on the forecheck, to be able to create off of a face-off play, whatever it may be."
That said, Carbery may continue to experiment with Ovechkin's line going forward; he switched out Aliaksei Protas for Tom Wilson on Ovechkin's opposite wing for some time in Games 2 and 3, and that combination may be one that sticks. And, if offense still isn't sutainable, perhaps giving him a new center and Dylan Strome the opportunity to work with a different forward line would be a potential spark.
Still, the Capitals have all the faith and confidence in the captain, as they should given all he's accomplished and continues to accomplish. And at the end of the day, he'll be pivotal if the team wants to turn the series back in its favor come Game 4 on Monday.