WASHINGTON (AP) It sure looked as if Alex Ovechkin was slowing

WASHINGTON (AP) It sure looked as if Alex Ovechkin was slowing down Chris Bigras Jersey Womens , at least by his standards.This time a year ago, Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals were limping away from another early playoff exit. His 16 even-strength goals in the regular season tied for the lowest of his career. Injuries limited him to five goals in 13 playoff games.Then a funny thing happened. Coach Barry Trotz took time from visiting his son in Russia to meet with Ovechkin and talk about changing and evolving his game at age 32. Time doesn’t stop, not even for the greatest goal-scorer of his generation. Trotz and general manager Brian MacLellan wanted more goals, better foot speed and for their cornerstone player to take care of his body to be able to handle more time on the ice.”That’s just life: You have to change, you have to grow,” Trotz said. ”He was motivated to show everybody that he still is a great player in this league.”Ovechkin led the NHL with 49 goals in the regular season, 15 more in the playoffs as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner and showed in his 13th season he could lead his team to the Stanley Cup. Ordinarily a team would be running out the clock on the final three seasons of a 13-year deal with a player of his age, but now Ovechkin is a Stanley Cup champion and there is no telling how much more the big forward can do in his NHL career.”Was tough time, but we fight through it and we get result,” Ovechkin said. ”It’s just something special. I don’t know. I’m just very excited and I’m very happy right now.”Hours after the Russian superstar lifted the Cup on the ice in Las Vegas, President Donald Trump devoted his first tweet of the morning to Ovechkin and the Capitals.”Congratulations to the Washington Capitals on their GREAT play and winning the Stanley Cup Championship,” Trump tweeted . ”Alex Ovechkin Jack Johnson Jersey Womens , the team captain, was spectacular – a true Superstar! D.C. is popping, in many ways. What a time!”Ovechkin likely hadn’t gone to sleep when the tweet was delivered at 4:12 a.m. Las Vegas time and he retweeted it. Next week, Ovechkin will be the star in a parade down Constitution Avenue six months after Trump on inauguration day and this summer will take the Cup back home to Moscow.After that, the next challenge starts. Ovechkin last summer adjusted his training methods in Russia, and he seemed rejuvenated when came back to the Washington area.Now he has to do it all over again with a happily shorter summer.”As you’re getting older, we’re going to have to train a little different so you become the athlete you always have been, because these young kids can absolutely fly,” Trotz said.Ovechkin looked like he was flying all season, from seven goals in his first two games to one on the power play Thursday night in the Cup clincher against the Vegas Golden Knights. But goal-scorers don’t typically keep up this pace – Ovechkin was already the oldest player to finish first in goals since Phil Esposito in 1974-75.”He was very comfortable and he was very confident,” longtime teammate Nicklas Backstrom said. ”He was really calm. Everything was really good. It’s impressive the way he scores goals and the way he worked out there. He was just a machine there in the playoffs.”Owner Ted Leonsis said recently his only regret about signing Ovechkin to a $124 million, 13-year deal is that it wasn’t longer. With three years left at a salary-cap hit over $9.5 million Brett Howden Jersey Womens , Ovechkin has already exceeded the expectations of that monster contract with three Hart Trophies, seven Maurice ”Rocket” Richard Trophies and now the playoff success that had long eluded him.”We worked so hard through all the years and we were together,” Ovechkin said. ”It’s just like a dream.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals— MONTREAL (AP) — It was only a matter of time before Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos returned to his goal-scoring ways.Stamkos scored twice to lead the Lightning to a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.The Lightning’s captain had been held scoreless in six games this season and had scored just two goals.“Any time you score and help your team win, it’s great,” Stamkos said after his first multi-goal game of the season. “Obviously tonight was a big bounce-back game for our team, for our line.“Any time you can produce in a win, in an atmosphere like this, it’s icing on the cake.”J.T. Miller and Yanni Gourde also scored for the Lightning, winners of nine of 13 games this season. Anton Stralman had three assists.Andrei Vasilevskiy continued his dominant start in the nets, finishing with 34 saves in his seventh victory.Max Domi scored the only goal for the Canadiens. Carey Price made 32 saves in the loss.The Lightning improved to 6-0-0 against Eastern Conference opponents this season.The Canadiens jumped to an early lead when Domi scored on the game’s first shot just 58 seconds in.Domi intercepted a clearing attempt by former Canadiens draft pick Mikhail Sergachev at the blue line, sidestepped a check by Adam Erne and then fired a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy for his seventh goal of the season.“He’s one of the best goalies in the league, but you need to create traffic to get one by him Paul Carey Jersey Womens ,” said Domi, who has points in eight of his last nine games. “We didn’t do enough of that tonight. He played his game, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t score on him when he’s playing his game. We have to do a better job of going to dirty areas.“We didn’t do that tonight.”It was the third time this season Domi scored in the first two minutes of a game.After intense pressure by the Canadiens at the start, a boarding penalty by Nicolas Deslauriers changed the game’s momentum.The Lightning scored as Deslauriers’s penalty expired. Stamkos beat Price with a one-timer at 13:42 of the first.Miller made it 2-1 at 16:24 after a midair interception by Stralman gave Tampa Bay the puck in Montreal’s zone.Following a scoreless second period, Stamkos added to Tampa’s lead 52 seconds into the third with a precise wrist shot into the top of the net. It was his first multi-goal game of the season.“I’m trying to get back that shooting mentality,” Stamkos said. “Obviously, when you get one early in the game, you’re feeling more confident. Funny how that happens. I got the puck in the slot and knew where I wanted to go.“That one felt good. I hadn’t shot a puck like that and felt that release in a while.”The Lightning are 3-0-0 this season when Stamkos scores.“He’s a natural goal scorer,” said 21-year-old Lightning winger Mathieu Joseph. “You see it every time. What a shot he has. He’s dangerous every time he takes a shot.”Just one day after signing a six-year contract with the Lightning, Gourde added an insurance goal with 4:03 remaining as he swatted a loose puck in the crease across the goal line.Montreal finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Montreal has not scored a power-play goal in its last 15 opportunities.The Lightning have won five of their last six games against the Canadiens.NOTES: Montreal’s Phillip Danault played his 200th NHL game. . Canadiens forward Paul Byron (lower-body injury) did not play. He’s expected to miss at least two more games. . Montreal defenseman Karl Alzner was a healthy scratch for the ninth time this season.UP NEXTLightning: At Ottawa on Sunday night.Canadiens: Against the Islanders at the Barclays Center on Monday.