From the Rink: Slowing Ovechkin easier said than done

ST. PAUL -- Whenever the Washington Capitals are in town, the media horde typically enters the Wild dressing room and makes a beeline for one locker stall in particular.
It's often the same question, but frankly it often bears repeating: How in the world do you slow Alex Ovechkin?
But if you're looking for answers from Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk -- or any other NHL goaltender, for the matter -- you might be looking for a while.

"He provides a unique threat that you have to be aware of," Dubnyk said Thursday morning. "He scores as many goals for a reason, so it's like anybody when a team comes in with a top player like that, you've gotta be aware of them and you gotta try and limit his opportunities and his space, and after that, it's my job to stop them. I haven't had a ton of success doing that in the past, so it's another opportunity to try and get in front of a few of his."

Ovechkin leads the NHL with 33 goals this season, and is one of just three players in the League with at least 30.
He's already matched his total from all of last season, when Ovechkin's 33 goals were considered a "down season." Just 26 players in the entire League scored at least 30 goals last season, and Ovechkin's 33 tied for 13th-most.
And that was poor, by his lofty standards.
Ovechkin scored at least 50 goals in the three seasons prior, and scored 32 in 48 games in 2013. He's scored at least 50 goals seven times in his career, including one 65-goal campaign in 2007-08.
Bottom line: Few in the world are more prolific goal-scorers than Ovechkin, and every team that defends him knows it, too.
"I think we'll put some guys on him tonight," said Wild forward Matt Dumba. "Try and stay with him because he can get his shot] off from about anywhere. It's gotta be a five-man effort to take away time and space from those guys and keep it out of his hands."
Minnesota has had trouble slowing Ovechkin in his career. He tallied a hat trick at Xcel Energy Center last season and has 14 goals and 21 points in 13 career games versus the Wild.
Bruce Boudreau coached Ovechkin for parts of five seasons from 2007-11 and knows first-hand the kinds of challenges he presents.
"There's not too many teams that have handled him over the course of his career," Boudreau said. "You can sit there and say, 'We're going to defend, defend, defend,' but if he gets his shot away, it's a good chance it's going to go in at any point in time."
Here are the projected lineups:
**WILD**
Nino Niederreiter - Eric Staal - Zach Parise
Jason Zucker - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Tyler Ennis - Matt Cullen - Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno - Joel Eriksson Ek - Daniel Winnik
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Gustav Olofsson - Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler - Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana - Evgeny Kuznetsov - T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky - Lars Eller - Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson - Jay Beagle - Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov - Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos - John Carlson
Brooks Orpik - Taylor Chorney
Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby
Related:
- [Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Washington - Listen: PONDcast preview of Wild-Capitals - Watch: Boudreau on Koivu's 900th NHL game - Gallery: Wild morning skate