News » They came out as strong as we’ve seen

WASHINGTON (AP) Alex Ovechkin knows the Washington Capitals have plenty of fans back in Russia.”Over there lots of friends www.officialflyersproshop.com , lots of people watch the games,” Ovechkin said of his countrymen. ”It’s been huge.”He is also huge in Barrie, Ontario, where projected top-five draft pick Andrei Svechnikov has been watching Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov serve as inspirations for young Russian players and fans on this run to the Stanley Cup Final. The native of Siberian city Barnaul got to meet his fellow Russians on Monday morning and got an up-close view of their dominance in Game 4 that night.”(Ovechkin) and Kuzy and Orlov, these guys just famous in hockey world,” Svechnikov said. ”I am very happy.”Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Orlov are making plenty of young Russian players and fans happy. They are just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. Svechnikov admired smooth-skating, high-scoring Hall of Fame winger Pavel Bure growing up, and now watches in amazement at what Kuznetsov does on the ice with his skill – not to mention his bird-flapping celebrations.”Great skater. Every time wants to be involved, hungry every time. Very smart player. A lot of skill,” Svechnikov said of Kuznetsov, who leads the playoffs in scoring and added four assists in a 6-2 win over Vegas. ”He just like star Philadelphia Flyers T-Shirts Authentic , you know? He can do whatever he want.”The joy of Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Orlov is being watched closely not only in Washington but back home where they’re big fan favorites.”A lot of people watching it because three Russian players in Washington and obviously Ovi big superstar in the world and everybody follow,” Orlov said. ”A lot of fans, a lot of kids enjoy his game.”The Capitals could have the most Russians on a Cup champion in the salary-cap era. The 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning were backstopped to their first franchise title by Nikolai Khabibulin, and the Detroit Red Wings’ Russian Five in the 1990s shined a spotlight on all the talent coming out of the old Soviet system.After Evgeni Malkin was the only Russian player on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ back-to-back Cup champions the past two seasons, this is another showcase of this generation of talent. Playoff leading scorer Kuznetsov and leading goal-scorer Ovechkin are also the top candidates to follow Malkin as just the second Russian to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.”Ovi has been a staple since he’s come into the league. Kuzy is a little newer,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”People don’t really know him as well as Ovi. You’re seeing the talent of Kuzy. You’ve seen the greatness of Ovi over the course of his career to this point. I think Kuzy is just getting better and better.”The 26-year-old Kuznetsov is reluctant to talk about himself or any other individual player, but he knows this is special for Ovechkin, who is 32 and has been waiting 13 seasons for this with nine previous early playoff exits to his name.”Every Russian guy back home pretty happy for him because that’s huge,” Kuznetsov said. ”That’s a long time.”Ovechkin wished Svechnikov good luck later this month at the NHL draft, where he was the No. 1 pick back in 2004. A short conversation at a morning skate was enough to leave Svechnikov beaming.”Just famous guy – everybody knows him and everybody watch him,” Svechnikov said. ”It’s just an honor to have met with him.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals— The Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who joined the NHL as expansion cousins in 1992-93 Philadelphia Flyers Hoodies Authentic , are franchises going in different directions when they meet Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre.It will be the 2,000th regular-season game for each.The Lightning (9-3-1), coming off a 4-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, are among the favorites in the Eastern Conference this season and are in first place in the Atlantic Division.Article continues below ...The Senators (5-6-2), who had a promising start to a rebuilding season only to struggle lately, were crushed 9-2 by the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon and have lost five of their past six games. They have given up 30 goals in that stretch.The Lightning are trying to cope without Norris Trophy winning defenseman Victor Hedman, who has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury. The Lightning are 2-2-0 without him. His status will be updated early this week.Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves for his seventh win of the season against the Canadiens, but is expected to get the night off against the Senators. Louis Domingue will likely make his fourth appearance of the season. He is 2-1-0 with a 4.00 goals-against average and .887 save percentage.Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who scored his third and fourth goals of the season against the Canadiens, credited Vasilevskiy with the win.“We knew what to expect coming in,” Stamkos told NHL.com. “They were going to come out hard and they did, that’s why we have arguably the best goalie in the world on our team to give us a chance sometimes to catch our breath. And then after that I thought we did a good job of playing the right way.”The Lightning will be looking for a better start against the Senators than they had against Montreal.“It was a tough start for us,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told the league website. “We must have thought it was a 7:30 start instead of a 7 o’clock.”Goaltender Craig Anderson will be back in goal for the Senators against the Lightning. He was pulled after giving up three goals on 10 shots behind a porous defense Saturday. The Sabres were fired up after a pre-game ceremony honoring Sabres forward Jason Pominville for playing his 1 Philadelphia Flyers Hats Authentic ,000th game in the NHL on Thursday.After giving up 41 shots Saturday, the Senators are last in the NHL in shots allowed at 38.7 per game.“I think collectively, we weren’t ready for the emotional level that they had,” Senators coach Guy Boucher told NHL.com. “They came out as strong as we’ve seen all year and most probably because the players wanted to have a great night for Pominville.”“We’re obviously not the first team to do it, we’re obviously not going to be the last, but those can’t happen more than once in a season let alone a week,” Senators forward Mark Stone told NHL.com. “In the Arizona game (a 5-1 loss on Tuesday) and this game, we were just flat coming out of the gate. Didn’t give ourselves a chance from the opening puck drop.”Ottawa has posted an all-time record of 899-837-115-148 over 1,999 games. The Lightning are 853-896-112-138 and have the lone Stanley Cup victory among the franchises, winning in 2004.