Capitals' Ovechkin Has It All

TAMPA - Washington's Alexander the Great has divided and conquered like no other player has in more than a decade in the NHL.

Alex Ovechkin goes around defensemen with the puck on his stick like it's dangling on a string. He goes through forwards who get between him and the puck. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Russian winger hits with the brute force of a linebacker on skates. He takes the same type of hit and gets up with a smile on his face.

Ovechkin has it all. Sometimes, it seems like he does it all.

And he puts it all out there on nearly every shift with the enthusiasm and pure joy of a child opening presents, making it hard to tell if he has just scored his first goal or his 201st.

"He's got every tool. I think even some of the best players didn't have them all," said Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle, who will likely see plenty of Ovechkin on the ice tonight as the Capitals make their final visit to Tampa this season. "He can skate. He can shoot. He can be physical. And he can pass."

Ovechkin enters tonight's game with a league-high 61 goals, making him the first player to hit the 60-goal mark in a season since Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux each reached the plateau in 1996. With his goal on Tuesday, the 22-year-old became the Capitals' single-season record holder.

But individual accolades are not foremost on Ovechkin's mind right now. Helping Washington get into the playoffs for the first time since 2002-03 is what matters most as the Capitals enter their final five games two points behind eighth-place Boston and four behind division-leading Carolina.

"The last two years at this time, we don't play enough meaningful games, we think about vacation and we think about what we're doing in the summer, you know, we don't think about playoffs," Ovechkin said. "Right now we have a great chance to move forward and take one step forward and be in that spot. My personal stats, it's personal stats, but right now I think about the team."

It's difficult, however, not to think about Ovechkin's individual accomplishments, considering he has yet to complete his third full NHL season.

He already has scored 50 or more goals and reached the 100-point plateau twice. He trails only Wayne Gretzky (198) and Mike Bossy (177) for most goals in the first three years of a career. Ovechkin's 159 goals in the past three seasons are 14 more than anybody else in the league.

This season, he is on pace to finish with 448 shots on goal, which would be second in league history behind Phil Esposito's record 550.

Ovechkin's league-best 107 points have him in line to become the first Russian player to lead the league in scoring. If Washington earns a playoff spot, his chances increase for being the first Russian to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP.

Washington owner Ted Leonsis rewarded Ovechkin on Jan. 10, when the two sides agreed on a 13-year contract worth $124 million. Instead of wilting under the pressure that comes from signing the most lucrative guaranteed contract in league history, Ovechkin has thrived.

In the 34 games since signing the deal, Ovechkin has 29 goals and 55 points.

"Well, the last month, it was a great experience for me and everybody in the Washington organization, because everybody is excited and everybody is a little bit maybe nervous, maybe," Ovechkin said. "I don't know how to say it, but right now it's a great time for us and for me and for my team."