The Caps lost to L.A. Thursday night by falling into the trap the Kings have worked all year — holding the opposition to fewer shots than they fired themselves and keeping up the tempo when they might have let down. The crowd, bigger than normal at 17,428, greeted recent Hall of Fame Inductee Igor Larionov as the evening started, with Russians Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Frolov taking a ceremonial faceoff to commemorate “Russian Heritage Night.” Those on hand, one assumed, were there to see Alex the Great play. He ended the night with 22 minutes played and five shots, but on the losing end of a 5-2 Kings victory. The last two goals went into an empty Caps’ net.

Ovechkin’s big moment of the evening came late, but it was not the kind of highlight that he or his fans, even casual ones, probably expected. He crashed toward the Kings’ net and took Dustin Brown head over heels. In the ensuing tumble, Ovechkin got clobbered on the ear, probably with a skate, and also ended up with a penalty, on which the Kings scored.

The goal, by Dustin Brown, made it 3-1 and seemed to assure a Kings’ victory. Shortly after, the Caps got one back, and the eyes started to roll. What was on everyone’s mind? Could the Kings possibly blow this? Could Ovechkin score a magical goal that we will remember forever?

Neither happened. Instead, it was Brooks Laich who made it 3-2 with just over four and a half minutes to go. The Caps then pulled their goalie and got scored on with less than a minute to play. The Kings added another at the buzzer, Kopitar firing it in with Wayne Simmonds in the box. Months from now when fans look at the Slovenian’s stats, they won’t remember that this shortie was an easy one.

After the game, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said “The third period was too little too late. We weren’t very good in the first period, and L.A. was very good in the first period.” The Caps had had only three shots in that 20 minutes. “I’m not going to let tiredness go as a crutch. These are young tremendous athletes, and they rested all day,” he said in response to a question about whether the Caps could use having played the night before in Anaheim as an excuse.

“When you can’t get a shot even strength, that means you aren’t working hard enough. We had only three shots [in period one], and they were by Alex. I mean, granted I think the guy who keeps the shot clock is completely blind on both sides, absolutely horrible.” He gave an example from his team, then said of the Kings, “They had four shots in the first two minutes and they only registered as two.”

As an aside, I have two things to say to this. 1. Amen, brother; I’ve been saying this for three years. 2. It’s really nice to have a coach say things that are interesting and uncensored. This guy strikes me as a lot like Randy Carlyle in Anaheim. He’s not disrespectful; he’s kind in his manner, but he speaks out. This league needs fewer cliché-spouting automatons. Good for you, Boudreau.

He went on to express his feelings about his team’s effort. “Guys playing for the first time in a while in Brent [Johnson, goalie] and Mo [Shaone Morrisonn, defense]. Brent was well rested and played really really good. We should be playing for these guys and I just didn’t think we were up to standard at the beginning. Once you get a team on a roll, it’s tough to stop them.”

For his part, Ovechkin said, “They moved faster than us,” and then went on to explain that he didn’t feel that he had deserved a penalty on the play with Brown. He said that his ear had been hurt, “I didn’t hit him, and he hit my ear, just like a microphone had [rung there]. I was just going to the net. Well, I don’t know.” He wasn’t in much of a talkative mood, and it felt a little unfair to be grilling him as if the game had rested entirely on his play, or on that moment at the end. This was, as the coach pointed out, a team letdown.

Ovechkin’s stats on the night showed a -4, three blocked shots, three missed shots, and seven hits. The nearest King had five. It wasn’t Dustin Brown, as you might expect. It was Brian Boyle, the big man who may have finally awakened. But numbers aside, the Kings got a good win for them, and fans had a chance to see greatness in action.

He may not have delivered a goal or a play that will live forever in the minds of Angelinos, but Ovechkin played well, made a few nice dekes, and charged up a crowd which isn’t always easy to impress.

Notes

Chris Simpson has a new show on the NHL Network. Be sure to check it out. It’s a half-hour feature program called “Captains Driven by Bridgestone,” and it’s about the leaders in the game. Simpson will be spending time with the league’s captains and reporting on how they became the leaders they are.

The Kings brought John Zeiler up from Manchester, where he had been assigned for conditioning. They sat Derek Armstrong, Brad Richardson, and Peter Harrold. The latter had been playing wing, though he is a defenseman. To make room on the NHL roster, the team activated Richard Clune from IR and assigned him to Manchester.