Wray Morrison: A rookie mistake

Alex Ovechkin is not at fault for what happened to Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov on Monday night in the Capitals-Hurricanes hockey game. The 19-year-old Svechnikov was KO’d by the 33-year-old Ovechkin in a first-period fight.

It was unfortunate that Svechnikov was slow to get off the ice. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was frustrated with Ovechkin’s actions and Carolina’s home broadcasters were very critical of Ovechkin after Svechnikov was hurt. I get the fact that members of the Carolina franchise are going to protect their player, but this was Ovechkin’s fourth fight of his career and first since 2010.

To set the record straight, Svechnikov had provoked Ovechkin with slashes earlier in the series, and then on Monday — after going slash for slash with Ovechkin — appeared to nod his head that he was ready to fight. It should also be pointed out Ovechkin said on more than one occasion that he hoped the fellow Russian was all right in post-game interviews.

This wasn’t about a veteran beating up a rookie. This was about a rookie learning a valuable lesson at the hands of a superstar.