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Alex Ovechkin absolutely clobbers Tuomo Ruutu

Tuomo Ruutu, Alex Ovechkin

Carolina Hurricanes’ Tuomo Ruutu (15), of Finland, looks at Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, as Ovechkin hits the puck between his legs during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game in Washington, Tuesday, March 29, 2011. Hurricanes won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

AP

When people wonder “Where’s the old Alex Ovechkin?,” many are just asking where his scoring touch went. That being said, there’s also been the sense that the all-world winger hasn’t quite been there in spirit, either. He hasn’t been the video game hockey player turned human - the guy just as likely to clobber someone with a check as he would be to embarrass a goalie with a highlight reel goal.

Ovi has a long way to go until he totally rebounds to that form, but there have been enough glimpses of that freight train style to start getting excited.

In other words, opponents better keep their heads up, as hard-hitting and receiving* forward Tuomo Ruutu realized today.

Here are highlights from the full game between Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals and Ruutu’s Carolina Hurricanes, which the Caps won 2-1.

* - Seriously, I feel like Ruutu is an inordinate amount of destructive collisions, with nearly equal quantities of “good” or “bad” ones.