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Ovechkin continues to torment Islanders

Jan 19, 2009 - 11:03 PM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Alex Ovechkin continued his personal destruction of the New York Islanders.

Ovechkin scored two power-play goals Monday, including the game-winner 1:46 into overtime, as the Washington Capitals posted a 2-1 victory over the Islanders.

It marked the second time in as many visits to Long Island this season that the reigning Hart Trophy winner scored in overtime to defeat the Islanders. He also netted the game-winner in a 5-4 victory here on December 6.

"He raises the bar that he wants people to play as hard as him," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You watch how hard he plays. How can you not want to play with that intensity and passion every night when he's doing that?"

Left alone on the left doorstep, Ovechkin took a perfect cross-ice pass from Alexander Semin for a tap-in goal to give the Capitals their third straight victory.

"It was a sick pass," said Ovechkin, who peppered goaltender Yann Danis with eight shots. "It's Semin, so he created opportunities for me to score goals."

"I thought I had it covered," Danis said. "(Semin) made a good pass and Ovechkin had an open net."

Monday's game-winner came after New York defenseman Brendan Witt was called for a slashing penalty against Ovechkin 85 seconds into the overtime.

"He broke my stick," Ovechkin said. "That's why (the penalty) was called."

"I thought the penalty was pretty weak," New York coach Scott Gordon said. "It was one-handed. It would be one thing if it was a two-hand slash."

Witt insisted that he didn't even break Ovechkin's stick.

"I'm not that strong to do it with one hand," he said.

New York's complaints fell on deaf ears, and Ovechkin won it with his fifth goal in three games against the Islanders this season. On Monday, he registered his 30th and 31st goals to take over the NHL's goal-scoring lead from Philadelphia's Jeff Carter, who has 30.

Ovechkin joined Peter Bondra and Mike Gartner as the only players in Capitals' history with at least four consecutive 30-goal seasons.

"There are a lot of buildings he likes to play in," said Washington netminder Jose Theodore, who recorded 27 saves for his 200th career victory.

"When you get a power play at 4-on-3, that's the time you have to take it and win games. The guys showed character tonight."

The Islanders earned their first point of 2009. New York, which is just 2-17-3 in its last 22 contests, had lost its first seven games of the calendar year.

"We're grateful that they are having trouble scoring right now because they would have had some great chances to score," Boudreau added. "But they worked really hard and you can tell they are well-coached. It's a matter of time before those young guys get better. They have 8-10 guys out. It's tough. The Bridgeport guys were good, but it's tough with Alex."

The Islanders salvaged a point when rookie Kyle Okposo cashed in a two-man advantage with 7:42 left in the third period.

"You're looking at a pretty talented offensive team and the fact that we were able to hold them to one goal in regulation is pretty good," Gordon said.

Ovechkin rifled a one-timer past Danis to open the scoring 6:35 into the contest. Danis kept the Islanders in the game with 36 saves.