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At the Rink blog

Boudreau: Ovi 'benching' got too much attention

Friday, 11.04.2011 / 12:39 PM

By Kurt Dusterberg - NHL.com Correspondent / At the Rink blog

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At the Rink blog
Boudreau: Ovi 'benching' got too much attention
Now that a few days have passed since Washington coach Bruce Boudreau sat Alex Ovechkin in the final moments of a game Tuesday night against Anaheim, the coach said Friday morning the story didn't deserve the attention it received.

"There was no football, there was no basketball, there was nothing else going on," Boudreau said after the Capitals' morning skate in Raleigh. "So they made a big deal out of nothing."

The Capitals were trailing by a goal with 1:27 left in regulation when Boudreau called a timeout. He didn’t put Ovechkin on the ice then, nor did he do so with 1:02 left when there was another stoppage in play and he pulled goaltender Tomas Vokoun for an extra attacker. Nicklas Backstrom wound up scoring the game-tying goal with 42 seconds left, as well as the winner in overtime.

"It's all about accountability, but it was way overblown," said Boudreau. "[Ovechkin] wasn't benched or anything; he just wasn't chosen to go out the last minute. I've done it many different times with many different players. You have a hunch and you go with it. I just thought the other guys were going to score."

WASHINGTON

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Troy Brouwer
Cody Eakin – Marcus Johansson – Alexander Semin
Jason Chimera – Brooks Laich – Joel Ward
Mathieu Perreault – Matt Hendricks – Mike Knuble

Roman Hamrlik – Dennis Wideman
John Erskine – John Carlson
Jeff Schultz – Karl Alzner

Michal Neuvirth

CAROLINA

Jiri Tlusty – Eric Staal – Chad LaRose
Jeff Skinner – Tuomo Ruutu – Anthony Stewart
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Brandon Sutter – Patrick Dwyer
Drayson Bowman – Tim Brent – Zach Boychuk

Joni Pitkanen – Jamie McBain
Tim Gleason – Bryan Allen
Jay Harrison – Tomas Kaberle

Cam Ward

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