“Any opportunity, especially when you’re trying to win a series…you want to be able to literally and figuratively physically impose your will on your opponent.” These were Washington Capitals’ coach Spencer Carbery’s words after Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin manhandled an inexperienced Canadiens team in Game 1 of the first round. And to be honest, that was pretty much what happened in the rest of the series as well. But the story has been a bit different so far with the Carolina Hurricanes as the opponents.

Then again, nobody had expected Rod Brind’Amour’s men to physically overpower the Capitals either. After all, they averaged a meagre 17.15  hits during the regular season, only good enough for the 30th spot in the NHL. Yet they managed to outhit the Washington side 61-47 in the first two games of the series. And interestingly, when the dust settled on the game, their postseason hit average stood at 35.53 hits, while the Washington Capitals’ tally was 31.35. “…that’s playoff hockey,” Jordan Martnook said. And guess what? Martinook and co. made sure to bring that brand of playoff hockey to the third game as well, giving Alex Ovechkin a particularly tough time.

“Ovi’s had a physical night today,” said the announcer as clips of Alex Ovechkin getting physically outmatched played on the screen. At 39, the Washington Capitals captain is still a force to be reckoned with on the ice. However, the Carolina Hurricanes have fought fire with fire, and after taking a loss from the Caps in Game 2, they are back on top of the Round 2 series. The hit count? 108-90.

If you’re wondering who gave the Russian machine a taste of his own medicine, then it was none other than the 6’5, 228 lb Brent Burns. The 40-year-old repeatedly appeared in the clip B/R Open Ice posted. From a high stick to the face to shoulder charges, the defenseman out-muscled Alex Ovechkin throughout the game. In fact, blocking Ovi seemed like a part of their strategy, with the announcer saying, “Ovechkin has certainly been a target for the Hurricanes in this game.”

Meanwhile, watching the 39-year-old get knocked down repeatedly was quite a rare sight. After all, the NHL veteran is often the one dishing out the hits. He even drew the Canadiens fan ire after delivering a massive hit to Cole Caufiled, and finished Round 1 with 19 hits to his name. So it’s no surprise that Carolina focused on hustling down the NHL’s all-time goals leader.

But it wasn’t until late in the second period, when the Hurricanes got their first goal, that the Capitals started to unravel. Despite Nic Dowd winning the face-off for the Caps, Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov beat everyone else to the puck, breaking the ice for the Canes at Lenovo Center. It was a sloppy side for the Capitals from that point. Yet, stopping Alex Ovechkin wasn’t the only reason behind Carolina’s success.

Alex Ovechkin and the Caps’ offense couldn’t get past one man

As much as messing with Ovechkin and the Caps’ offense’ flow was on the table for Carolina, the outcome could’ve been different. That didn’t happen thanks to none other than Frederik Andersen. The Canes’ goalie put in a shutout performance to help the Canes remain undefeated at home during this year’s playoffs. In fact, Andersen became the difference maker in the first period, stopping high-quality shots.

His incredible performance against the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, and others impressed Coach Rod Brind’Amour. The Carolina Hurricanes coach agreed that the Canes may not be celebrating a 4-0 victory if it wasn’t for the veteran goaltender. “That was the key to our win tonight,” the Canes coach said postgame.

“That first period, where clearly, they were on their game, and we were a little on our heels. That’s what (good) goaltending does. He kept us in the game,” admitted Rod Brind’Amour. A fair assessment considering how the Capitals had outshot the Canes 9-6 inside the first 20 minutes. Thankfully, Andersen was at his best, posting his fourth career playoff shutout.

“I thought we got to (our game) a little bit in the second half of the game, but it could have been a lot different if we were chasing,” added Brind’Amour. Canes’ Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic also agreed with their coach’s assessment. The forwards credited their goaltender for keeping them in the game when they didn’t have their “stuff” together. That being said, Alex Ovechkin and the Caps will now have to chase the 2-1 series lead that the Canes just took.