D pass to Jack Doyle early in the second quarter immediately after he set the record on an 80-yard connection with Reggie Wayne, who made a brilliant adjustment to

Im going to write in defence of Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin, if only because there have been some recent attacks and, while I can certainly live with them being directed at Ovechkin, the analytical process ought to be better, particularly if its going to be a hit piece on the leagues leading goal-scorer. Womens Eagles Jerseys . Yes, Im writing to defend a player that is on pace for a 59-goal season, when the second-best goal-scorer in the NHL this season, Torontos Phil Kessel, is on pace for 43. Naturally, I didnt think that Ovechkin would be a player that needed much defending, but hes taken some hits lately. Im going to largely ignore his contributions on the power play because its not in any dispute that Ovechkin is great with the man advantage and can make a difference even when he doesnt score. On one side of the discussion, we have the Toronto Star, with their Department of Hockey Analytics, and while there are plenty of flaws in Ovechkins game, they somehow determined that his goals-for/against percentage was the way to illustrate the problem. Never mind that goals for/against percentage is essentially measuring plus-minus. Ill get to that in a moment but, first, also peruse the Hockey News piece by Ken Campbell who, after Ovechkin was minus-5 against Columbus, decided that Ovechkin has to decide what kind of player he is. After all, Ovechkin was minus-17 on the season after that game. Whats odd about using plus-minus to denigrate Ovechkins contributions is that anyone doing serious analytical work in hockey has been against using plus-minus because it involves so many factors beyond an individual players control (not least of which are the contributions of nine other skaters and two goaltenders when the game is 5-on-5) and, generally, involves small samples because goals are relatively rare events. Its funny to find myself in this position, because I can be a bit of an apologist for plus-minus. You spend enough time around the game and that thinking can be pretty common, and when the sample is large enough, you can get a pretty decent list of players at both ends of the spectrum. (For example, heres the list of players with the best cumulative plus-minus since 2000, and here are the worst.) But, Ive at least learned that there are many other factors that go into whether a player is a plus or minus player, and they must be considered if youre going to attempt to pass judgment on a single season or, especially, a portion of a season. So, lets take a look at some factors that are at play to make Alex Ovechkin a minus-17. First off, the shooting percentage of others on the ice with Ovechkin at 5-on-5 is ridiculously low. His 6.3% is only ahead of fourth-liners Aaron Volpatti and Jay Beagle among Capitals forwards. The suggestion could be made -- and of course it has been -- that Ovechkin isnt making those around him better, but here are the 5-on-5 on-ice shooting percentages when Ovechkin has been on the ice for the past five seasons: 10.36%, 8.62%, 8.05%, 11.76%, 9.09%. Youre really going to have to dig for reasons, other than poor luck and ineffective shooters, to explain even-strength shooting effectiveness declining by 40% over last season, especially when Ovechkin himself is shooting 10.6% (18 goals, 170 shots) at 5-on-5. Taking away Ovechkins 18 goals on 170 shots, leaves the other Capitals to score eight goals on 242 shots (3.3%) with Ovechkin on the ice. Marcus Johansson, his most common left winger, has one goal on 51 shots. This undeniably effects plus-minus, right? Of course it does. Give Ovechkin an average on-ice shooting percentage (say, 8%) and that is a difference of about seven goals. At the other end of the rink, Ovechkin is getting burned with a .909 save percentage at 5-on-5. Naturally, the argument will be that Ovechkins defensive play is what leads to that low percentage. Keep in mind, that percentage is well below career norms for him (.922 over the past five seasons, including this one) and ranks near the bottom on the Capitals roster. Use that typical save percentage, on 439 shots against, and that becomes a difference of 5-6 goals. So, why not take a look at where the shots are coming from with Ovechkin on the ice? According to Some Kind of Ninjas Shot Tracker, shots against the Capitals with Ovechkin on the ice at even strength, come from an average distance of 34.5 feet. In the previous five seasons, it has been 34.2, 36.6, 35.8, 34.6 and 35.9 feet on average. There can be an argument made, based on those average shot distances, that Ovechkins most effective defensive performances were in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 (the Dale Hunter season), but there really isnt a huge difference; goaltenders arent suddenly flummoxed by 34-foot shots when 36-footers are easy pickings. On top of that, best of luck trying to identify those particular seasons as anything close to Ovechkins best. Why? Because he scored 70 goals and 150 points in 157 games over those two seasons, producing the two lowest point scoring rates of his career. Yes, even lower than this season, when virtually no one else puts the puck in the net with him on the ice. Of course Ovechkin is not a defensive whiz, but that shouldnt stand as an indictment any more than it has for elite offensive players throughout the history of the game. Seriously, take a look at the Top 10 goal-scorers in the league, none of whom put the puck in the net like Ovechkin, and identify the ones that are notably strong backcheckers. Some are: Joe Pavelski, Alexander Steen, Patrick Sharp, but theres no reason to believe that right wingers Kessel or Corey Perry or Patrick Kane are doing brilliant work in the defensive end. Heres the thing: theyre all great players! Part of the trouble for Ovechkin is that the Capitals havent been able to win in the postseason, so he gets painted with the brush of failure for a whole host of team shortcomings. Thats what comes with being a superstar. This Capitals team is flawed. They rank in the bottom third of the league in Fenwick Close (measuring shot attempts, not including blocks, at even strength, with the score close), which is a good indication of team puck possession, yet Ovechkin has relatively solid possession numbers. If you want to break down a players overall contribution, and feel that you must use one statistic in order to do so (better yet, dont), then at least reduce the impact of others on the ice and look at the possession stats, because it wont matter that linemates arent finishing or that, for whatever reason, goaltenders arent stopping the puck. Shooting and save percentages fluctuate and while they affect perception -- just ask Tyler Bozak -- they dont get to the bottom of a players on-ice contribution, and so it is with Ovechkin this year, who is having a fine season, no matter what his plus-minus says. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Eagles Jerseys Authentic . Louis second-period goal increased the New York Rangers lead but Dustin Brown has countered for the Los Angeles Kings who now trail the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Madison Square Garden. Cheap Eagles Jerseys China . Hamelin overcame a weak start to win bronze in the 500-metre race behind winner Wu Dajing of China and American J.R. Celski on Saturday at the world short track speed skating championship. http://www.cheapeaglesjerseyselite.com/ . The Irish golfer, whose father Patrick died from cancer, says he underwent surgery for sun spots. The 42-year-old Harrington told Irish radio station Today FM: "Ive had a number of skin cancers removed off my face.Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrew Luck threw a pair of touchdown passes in only one half of action, leading the AFC South champion Indianapolis Colts to a 27-10 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at LP Field. Luck finished 10-of-16 for 160 yards and set the Colts single-season passing yardage record with 4,761 yards, surpassing Peyton Mannings previous mark of 4,700 in 2010. Matt Hasselbeck also threw a touchdown pass in the second half for the Colts (11-5), who will open the playoffs at home next weekend. Indianapolis bounced back from a dreadful performance at Dallas last week and completed a sweep of the AFC South for a second straight year. The Colts, who managed only 229 yards in last Sundays 42-7 loss, totaled 378 on Sunday en route to their 13th straight divisional win. We needed to come out and win, said Luck. To get a victory after last week was huge. Charlie Whitehurst threw a scoring pass in defeat for Tennessee (2-14), which closed the year with 10 straight losses in Ken Whisenhunts first season as head coach. Were going to get a good pick and have a chance to get some good players in here, said Whisenhunt after the game. The Titans managed just 192 total yards and nine first downs on Sunday, finishing their worst season since moving from Houston in 1997. The two wins were the franchises fewest since a 2-14 record in 1994. We were beating ourselves (all year), said Titans safety George Wilson. This is definitely the toughest year Ive ever had. After a series of punts to start the game, the Colts started their second offensive series from the Tennessee 44 and needed just six plays to find the end zone. Luck was sacked and fumbled on the second play, but Hugh Thornton recovered for the Colts and Dan Herron converted 3rd-and-11 with a 26-yard reception out of the backfield to set up Lucks 7-yard scoring toss to Coby Fleener. Luck added a 1-yard TD pass to Jack Doyle early in the second quarter immediately after he set the record on an 80-yard connection with Reggie Wayne, who made a brilliant adjustment to the ball on the right sideline and was caught from behind just before the end zone. Cheap Jordan Mailata Jersey. . Wayne injured his groin and didnt return. The Titans responded with their first sustained drive of the game after Leon Washingtons 52-yard kickoff return. Whitehurst capped the 47-yard march with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Wright. Josh Cribbs followed with a 76-yard kickoff return to put the Colts at the Tennessee 27, but it led only to a 23-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal to make it 17-7 with 2:55 left in the first half. Vinatieri was wide left with a 46-yard kick midway through the third quarter, his first miss of the season, and the Titans pulled within a touchdown on the next series when Ryan Succop booted a 31-yard field goal. Tennessee reached the Indianapolis 3-yard line after a 52-yard run by Shonn Greene on 4th-and-1, but the Titans were lucky to secure three points after recovering a pair of Whitehurst fumbles. The Colts answered with a 26-yard Vinatieri field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the margin to 20-10 and Indianapolis cornerback Vontae Davis ripped the ball away from Tennessees Bishop Sankey two plays later. The Colts, though, were stopped on 4th-and-1 to turn it back over on downs. Hasselbeck threw an 8-yard TD pass to Fleener late in the fourth quarter to account for the final margin. Fleener finished with five catches for 56 yards. We wanted to have some momentum (for next week), said Colts coach Chuck Pagano. Really proud of the players and coaches. They did a tremendous job. Game Notes Tennessee managed 142 yards on the ground, including 94 from Greene on 11 carries ... Whitehurst completed just 12-of-28 passes for 72 yards and was sacked four times ...Vinatieri had converted each of his 29 field goal tries this season and 35 in a row dating back to last year before the miss in the third quarter ... Tennessees Brett Kern tied a franchise record with a 79- yard punt in the second quarter. Jim Norton set the mark with the Houston Oilers in 1964. Cheap Canadiens Jerseys Cheap Predators Jerseys Cheap Devils Jerseys Cheap Islanders Jerseys Cheap Rangers Jerseys Cheap Senators Jerseys Cheap Flyers Jerseys Cheap Penguins Jerseys Cheap Sharks Jerseys Cheap Blues Jerseys Cheap Lightning Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Cheap Canucks Jerseys Cheap Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Capitals Jerseys Cheap Winnipeg Jets Jerseys ' ' '