from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post,

There was a fascinating technical breakdown on how to defend Ovechkin from Rangers’ captain Ryan McDonagh, who knows what to expect from the Russian winger whom he and partner Dan Girardi will see a lot this series.

Ovechkin led the league with 53 regular-season goals — 10 more than second-place finisher Steven Stamkos — and lining up on the left wing, he primarily will square off against the right-sided (and right-handed) Girardi. But that doesn’t mean Girardi is left alone to try and shut him down.

“He likes to make that move where he carries it in and makes a move to his forehand,” McDonagh said. “If anything, you want to try and support Dan in the aspect of maybe trying to take that ice away from him. If there’s a two-on-two situation or a one-on-two situation, he likes to get ahead of his guy sometimes. So if I can recognize that and it’s kind of them two on an island, hopefully I can come over and kind of cut that ice out for him so maybe he’s forced to go to his backhand or shoot it before he makes that move.”

Ovechkin may have his go-to moves, but McDonagh also is fully aware that is not the limit of his repertoire.

“He’s a world-class talent,” McDonagh said. “He’s got plenty of ways to be effective out there.”

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