There were no penalties called in the third and final scrimmage of the Duchesne Cup, and the score reflected a dip in defensive awareness/intensity. Alex Ovechkin had four assists to lead Team A to a 9-5 victory over Team B.
By virture of winning both of its games, Team A captured the Cup. Ovechkin skated the Cup around briefly and lifted it over his head a couple of times before handing it to Jose Theodore. Then the team posed for a quick photo.
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Hard to take much from today’s game, but here’s a few observations:
* Semyon Varlamov gave up 8 goals in two periods. Forget about this (provided he does) immediately. He was assaulted with pucks for most of the 40 minutes.
* Come up with your projection for Alex Ovechkin’s point totals. Now add five assists. Similarly, come up with your projected goal total for Mike Knuble. Now add five. As for Nicklas Backstrom, an assist title is not out of the question. Sure, it is just one scrimmage with little defense. But these guys are going to rack up some numbers.
* Brian Pothier can pass the puck. He also made 2-3 little sneaky moves with the puck in tight quarters to avoid danger in both scrimmages. He could end up being a very valuable No. 3/4 guy this year.
* It was a mixed bag for John Carlson today. He can hammer the puck on net, but he also coughed up the puck a couple of times. Not a huge deal (offensive-minded guys are going to do that) but he’s been so sound to this point it was worth pointing out.
* Kyle Wilson had two goals from within five feet of the crease. Alexandre Giroux could have had 3-4, but at least he did get one on a breakaway. Oskar Osala also looked strong at times.
