Did Dougie Hamilton “bail out” on a would-be Alex Ovechkin check, thus letting Ovechkin retrieve the puck for a dagger 3-0 goal in Game 5? Was it a mental mistake by Hamilton, which would still be a gaffe, but not bring into questions of “toughness?”
Whatever the true answer might be, that moment reverberated through the Capitals - Hurricanes Round 1 series, and was referenced early in Game 6 on Monday (currently airing on NBCSN; Stream here). After Ovechkin missed a check on Hamilton, Ovechkin did a “chicken flapping its wings” motion at Hamilton and/or the Hurricanes bench.
You can watch the mocking gesture in the video above this post’s headline, and judge for yourself on that 3-0 goal from the Capitals’ eventual 6-0 win in Game 5 in this clip. Jeremy Roenick provided his take, too.
(Personally, I think Hamilton was confused, not frightened, but perhaps we’ll never truly know.)
Ovechkin’s not shy about trash talk, including in the playoffs - you may remember him jawing at Henrik Lundqvist in 2015 - and the Hurricanes must respond on the scoreboard. Alex Ovechkin let his play do some talking along with that taunting, as he scored a 2-1 goal for a Capitals lead moments after Petr Mrazek was bumped hard in an accidental collision by his own teammate, Justin Williams.
"Are you not entertained?!" - @ovi8, probably.
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 22, 2019
Watch #WSHvsCAR: https://t.co/waSRRqrGlR pic.twitter.com/Tb78nrTuIK
Tune into Game 6 on NBCSN and/or stream it here to see the taunting, heavy-hitting, and tense action.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.