Never a dull moment in Capitals land, I guess. Alex Ovechkin has denied a charge by Columbus Blue Jackets forward Derek Dorsett that he spit on him during Saturday’s game between the two teams at Nationwide Arena. That item came out in a notebook item in the Columbus Dispatch this morning. Read what Dorsett had to say here.
Ovechkin seemed taken aback by the question, not quite getting what “spit” meant in English. When given a visual demonstration he was emphatic that the incident didn’t happen as Dorsett said. Both players apparently battled throughout Saturday’s 4-2 comeback victory.
“Oh – no, no, no. I don’t know,” Ovechkin said. “Show me that moment. I want to see it actually…No. No.”
Ovechkin also gave his take on the Rene Bourque elbow on teammate Nicklas Backstrom during the 3-1 win over Calgary on Tuesday. Bourque will likely pay for that transgression with a suspension from the NHL. He already earned a two-gamer last month for a check from behind in a game against Chicago.
“Well it was head shot. It was kind of on purpose and I tell the referee like ‘He goes like straight in the face with an elbow. So why give him only two minutes?’ He just said Nicky was fine and he keep playing. I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.”
Ovechkin said he didn’t think Backstrom would miss any games – though last I checked there wasn’t an M.D. written before his name. He did acknowledge that it would be difficult to replace a player who has moved into the top eight in scoring in the NHL with 42 points.
“[Backstrom is] one of the top players in the league,” Ovechkin said. “He’s one of the leaders on our team. And he’s play great right now. He’s dominate the opponents. It’s nice to have him [on] that kind of roll.”
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