Alex Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals star left-winger and chief foil of Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, received some very harsh criticism from NBC Sports commentator Mike Milbury throughout Wednesday night's matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, a 4-1 Capitals loss.
Milbury said "This is ridiculous embellishment. He should be embarrassed by this and so should his teammates. That is silly. Get up and act like a man, for God's sake," when Ovechkin played up contact in an effort to draw a penalty. At various points in the game Milbury, who is frequently critical of Ovechkin according to Puck Daddy, had other stinging critiques. He said things like "Eight-year olds don't do that in the offensive zone," and that he "failed the superstar test miserably with an awful display of hockey and "should be ashamed of himself." Milbury lamented Ovechkin's unwillingness to play along the wall or backcheck, and called his play "inacceptable," which is not a typo. In the past, Milbury has compared Ovechkin unfavorably to Chad Ochocinco and referred to his game as "Eurotrash."
Through 19 games this season, Ovechkin and the Capitals have disappointed. Ovechkin has eight goals and 15 points, registering a plus/minus of negative four, which is hardly the domain of superstars. Crosby, who he's most often compared to, has posted a plus/minus of nine this year. The Capitals record stands at 7-11-1, and they are currently last in the Southeast division, and second to last in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals were the top team in the East two seasons ago, but fell to seventh last year. Ovechkin's points per game have dropped from 1.08 in 2010-2011 to 0.79 this year and his plus/minus in was an eye-popping 24 in the Capitals' first-place season. His OPS (offensive point shares) which measures the amount of points Ovechkin is responsible for via scoring, assisting, etc. stood at 8.1 in 2010-2011, and his career high is 14.1. Currently, his OPS is a weak-looking 1.4.
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