Ovechkin Snaps on Teammates After 2-OT Loss to Boston

Leadership comes in many forms. East Division captains like Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins Patrice Bergeron are some of the most revered captains in hockey because they lead by example, often quietly and effectively. Fellow Stanley Cup-winning captain Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has a different reputation.

Ovechkin let his teammates have it after a bad play led to Boston Bruins winger Craig Smith scoring a double-overtime goal to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 double-OT win in Game 3 at TD Garden.

For the third straight game, Washington took the Bruins to overtime, and for the second time, the Bruins won.

However, this time it was not a great goal. It wasn’t even a good goal. Washington goalie Ilya Samsonov didn’t play in the first two games because of disciplinary reasons and being placed in COVID protocol.

Samsonov stopped 40 of the first 42 shots, but the 43rd was a whoops, which drew the ire of Ovechkin.

Boston won the game 3-2 and leads the Round One series against the Washington Capitals, 2-1.

Whether Ovechkin was barking at Samsonov or former Pittsburgh Penguins defender turned Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz is unknown. Schultz could be seen coasting back to the puck, which allowed Smith to win the battle and get a good wraparound attempt cleanly.

Schultz should never have let it happen.

UPDATE: Premier Russian reporter Slava Malamud offered a translation to our Boston site, and it looks like Oveckin was barking at Samsonov.

He is literally screaming "Don't sleep, bitch" in Russian.

— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦 (@SlavaMalamud) May 20, 2021

Pittsburgh Penguins radio color commentator also jumped on the incident.

Makes me laugh and shake my head in disgust the way people just except Ovechkin screaming at his teammate after a miss play leads to the overtime winner.

— Phil Bourque (@pbourque29) May 20, 2021

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the series in the first period. It was a power-play tally. Washington led 2-1 until midway through the third period. Bruins winger Brad Marchand scored a power-play goal after Nic Dowd took a high-sticking penalty.

Five minutes into doule-overtime, Smith picked Schultz’s pocket and ended the game.

“It looked like one of them went for ‘leave it,’ and one went for an outlet pass,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “There was just a little bit of a miscommunication. It was a tough break the way the game ended. I thought Sammy played a hell of a game for us.”

Quote per Washington Post report Samantha Pell Twitter. Ovechkin was not one of the Zoom interviews after the game.