"Obviously, I have to be better," Ovechkin said after the morning skate Sunday. "I think our line has to be better, for sure, 5-on-5, I mean. I think we played very well on the 5-on-4, but 5-on-5 I don't think we created enough chances. We didn't play our game, and we understand that and going against these guys our line has to be more dominant."
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Ovechkin had four shots on goal and eight shot attempts in 25:42 of ice time in Game 1, most of it skating on the top line with center Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, but three of his shots on goal came on the power play. Wilson did not have a shot on goal. Kuznetsov had six shots on goal, four at even strength, and scored two power-play goals.
"It's playoff hockey," Ovechkin said. "Everybody doesn't want to make mistakes in their zone. Especially when we were on the ice, we knew exactly what they wanted to do. They want to play simple and we have to play simple too because if we're going to try to create beautiful plays or something like that maybe it's going to [work once], but it's not going to be all game. I talked to Tom last night, and I think we have to get more involved in the game and not wait for what's going to happen out there."
Coach Barry Trotz agreed that the Capitals need more from Ovechkin than they got in Game 1 and said he spoke to him about that.
"I didn't think he had a big impact on the game," Trotz said. "And [Ovechkin] is a top player for us, so he has to have impact, and I don't think he had enough impact. We actually were talking about that, and he felt that he can impact the game a lot more. When he does, you know the results. So, just get skating again. To me, when he's skating and really moving, then he's always dangerous.
