CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- First thought that pops to mind at the mention of the Capitals?
Alexander Ovechkin.
First visual?
Yeah, probably this:
That's from Washington's 6-3 victory last night in Columbus, a Game 6 that eliminated the Blue Jackets, and it was one of two goals for the great No. 8. Trademark stuff, too. Power-play blast from the left circle. All defenders aligned properly, Sergei Bobrovsky in decent position, everyone knows it's coming ... and it doesn't matter. That shot is that shot.
It's as close as hockey comes to an unstoppable play. Meaning when it's Ovechkin and the Capitals' power play, which sizzled at 9 for 28 in that series.
Which might explain why the Penguins, after a largely instructional practice this morning at the Lemieux Sports Complex, focused far more on earlier prevention mechanisms when I brought this up with several of the penalty-killers.
If I had to script out their PK concept, based on their descriptions, it would break down in five facets:
1. Pressure the D-men up ice.
This is primarily how the PK killed 19 of 21 power plays in the Philadelphia series, forcing the Flyers' exceptionally mobile defensemen to backpedal or alter their outlets. That would slow the entire process to a crawl well before reaching the Pittsburgh blue line.
"What you want to do is kill a few seconds off the clock," Jamie Oleksiak was telling me. "It doesn't matter how and where you do that on the rink. Less time means less chances for them."
"Pressure's a big part of what we've been doing," Riley Sheahan would echo.
2. Pinpoint key targets at the blue line.
Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington's slickest forwards with the puck, prefer to gain the zone with possession. The Penguins would prefer they didn't, so they'll focus on those two, possibly even more than the puck, as play moves through center ice.
"Zone entry ... that's a great place to force a turnover," Chad Ruhwedel told me.
Watch this one particularly closely in Game 1. Any significant swing one way or the other will be telling.
3. Own the wall.
If the Capitals gain the zone cleanly but still get pressured right away, they'll almost surely chip the puck further down the wall. That becomes a 50-50 battle, one the Penguins sound determined to win.
"Don't let them beat you to the corner," was how Ruhwedel worded it.
This, too, was a strength against the Flyers. Time and again, Philadelphia dumped softly down the wall, only to see the Penguins double-team the scene, win the puck, clear with authority, then bask in the boos of the Wells Fargo Center faithful.
4. Cut off passing lanes.
If ranked by priority, this actually would be No. 1 with a bullet, according to these guys. Every last one of them emphasized it above all.
"What we're talking about now is the same thing we've talked about for a long time with Washington, and that's keeping them from making the plays they want," Tom Kuhnhackl told me. "It isn't just Ovechkin. John Carlson can really rip it from the right point. Backstrom, everyone thinks of him as a great passer, but he's got a great one-timer from the other side. What's the most important is keeping them from getting those pucks through."
"Sticks in lanes," Oleksiak said. "Don't let them have the east-west. Keep them to the side they're already on."
5. Be a human sacrifice.
This, of course, would be Kuhnhackl lining up in that left circle against Ovechkin.
"Hey, I'm ready," he joked, showing me his fortified shin pads. "I've got everything in there you can possibly imagine."
Fiberglass? Dry wall?
"Everything."
And still, he'd rather not.
• It also bears mentioning that, since most of the Capitals' opponents scheme Washington's power play similarly, Barry Trotz will show different looks. This was another Ovechkin power-play goal last night, with him planted in Patric Hornqvist's net-front position:
It's going to be a handful.
• Here comes yet another round of Sidney Crosby vs. Ovechkin. And given that the Penguins have taken every one of those, the questions are going to be that much more pronounced at both ends.
Crosby handled the one today beautifully:
I mean, what else is he going to say?
From the two-year span in which these two generational talents entered the NHL, it's been basically thrust upon both to compare to each other, even if their styles have so little in common, even if their teams' success levels have even less in common. To me, Sid vs. Ovi has always felt a little forced except for those rare cases when they've been directly spirited between each other in head-to-head competition.
Maybe that'll be the case this time. We'll see.
• What I know for sure is this: When Ovechkin blurted out on NBC, "I can't wait," regarding the Penguins immediately after the Capitals' victory in Columbus, he meant it. He genuinely hates that his career has been defined to such an extent by Pittsburgh's dominance of Washington. And he hates, more than you might think, that Crosby and Canada have had the same upper hand in international competition. I vividly recall how hard Ovechkin took Russia's failure in Sochi, in covering those Olympics.
He'll be driven.
• Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin missing practice today isn't ideal, but it can't be a big concern yet. The next series can't start before Thursday, so it's enormously unlikely Mike Sullivan would have wanted either on the ice today regardless.
That said, it would have been uplifting to see Hagelin anywhere at the rink, and no one on our staff saw him here.
• If Hagelin can't go in Game 1, Dominik Simon will suit up. Nothing else to see here.
• I'll be stunned if Sullivan changes up his third defense pairing. For one, Oleksiak and Ruhwedel haven't been limited because of shortcomings but, rather, because Kris Letang's now back at his playoff-level 27-28 minutes per game. For another, this coach doesn't mess with what's working, and let's not forget that the Flyers' Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds were so invisible in this past series that they're not even being recognized on the golf courses these days.
"We like where we are," Oleksiak told me.
• There was a genuinely dynamic feel to this practice. Hard focus on Xs and Os, lots of time at the chalkboard for Sullivan. The kind of thing coaches love to do between series. Which is yet another benefit to ending them early.
• I'm nowhere near ready for any series prediction, not until knowing more about Malkin, in particular. I'll say this, though: These Capitals are the least of the three editions we've just seen. That's not an insult to the current collection at all -- full marks to Trotz, Ovechkin and everyone else who stepped up after significant losses last summer — but rather, praise for the 2016 and 2017 teams.
I'll repeat this forever: The Capitals were the best team the Penguins eliminated toward both of those championships.
• No way the Blue Jackets can proceed with Bobrovsky. That franchise has had way too much talent since 2012, when he arrived in Columbus, to have still not won a solitary playoff series. At some point, regular-season awards aren't enough, and all concerned have to recognize the roadblock.
• John Tortorella?
Well, it wouldn't be the first time he's worn out a welcome, either. And if the hockey world as a whole can agree that the Blue Jackets, meaning Jarmo Kekalainen and John Davidson, have done well in procuring talent, then the problem is at ice level.
• One Game 7 in the first round?
The Bruins and Maple Leafs go at theirs tomorrow, and it should be fun. But for those of us who have complained for decades about the NHL being too low-scoring, having just the one is the punishment. Lots of lopsided games and lopsided series, especially early. That means fewer overtime games, shorter rounds.
• Everyone ready for another round?
Oh, come on! This is fun!
Take it from the perspective of Oleksiak, a newcomer to the process.
"This is the best part. It really is," he told me. "This is everything you work for as a hockey player, to be part of games like these. You've got to love it."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins practice, UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, April 24, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS