Ovechkin may pay a price for his physical style of play

Does Alex Ovechkin need to dial down his on-ice style?

He says no, but Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau thinks maybe it would be the best thing in light of Ovechkin's second game misconduct in less than a week on Monday.

Ovechkin was ejected for a knee-to-knee hit on Carolina's Tim Gleason, a collision that also left the Capitals' star with a sore knee. On Tuesday, the NFL handed him a two-game suspension for the hit. Monday's penalty followed Ovechkin's game misconduct last week for boarding Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta.

"He's pretty reckless," Boudreau told reporters on Tuesday.

Boudreau stressed, however, he doesn't consider Ovechkin a dirty player.

"It's hard telling a guy that scores 60 goals a year to change the way he plays," Boudreau said. "At the same time, I don't want to see him getting hurt. Maybe he has to pick his spots a little better. It's something that will have to be addressed by us, I guess."

Ovechkin said he wouldn't change anything about his game.

"Why do I have to listen to somebody who say, 'Hey, you have to change your game, and somebody going to kill you,"' Ovechkin said. "Well, nobody going to kill me. I just play my game and I just enjoy my time and I enjoy my life. It's me, and it is what it is.

"I play risky. I won't try and hit and make some people get hurt, but people sometimes turn right away and I don't have time to realize and stop. What can you do? You can do nothing."

Perhaps Ovechkin should look at how Jeremy Roenick's production suffered later in his career from all the punishment he dished out and absorbed early on with the Blackhawks.

Three cheers for Torts

Let's start pushing New York Rangers coach John Tortorella for the Adams Trophy.

OK, just kidding, but I love Tortorella's thinking about how to curb head shots.

The NHL might want to listen to him and let players police themselves again without fear of the silly instigator rules that call for penalties, fines and even suspensions.

"There's a big thing this year about these head shots and what the league is going to do," Tortorella told the Bergen Record. "To me, it's pretty simple - change the rule book."

Tortorella was aiming his comments at Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke, whose deliberate hit to the head of the Rangers' Artem Anisimov drew a two-game suspension.

"Some of these guys who go about doing that have no fear at all as far as maybe a little retribution," Tortorella said. "It'll continue and that's why our game is more violent right now because I think guys hide behind that rule book.

"This is where our game is (messed) up as far as I'm concerned. There's no respect in these types of situations and I think the rule book has something to do with that."

Watching the Wings

If you are like me, when I look at the NHL standings each day I first check to see how far the Hawks are ahead of the Red Wings.

Detroit is getting its act together despite key injuries to Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Jason Williams and Valtteri Filppula, and it's not all because of its stars.

Coach Mike Babcock has been getting big efforts from supporting cast players such as Darren Helm, Derek Meech, Justin Abdelkader and backup goalie Jimmy Howard.

"Sometimes going through something like this is good for your team," Babcock told the Detroit Free Press. "We've found a few players as time's gone on here and as players were injured, and if you keep finding players you have a chance to become a better team."

Around the rinks

• Think the Hawks' circus road trip was tough?

The Canucks won't play a home game at GM Place from Jan. 30 through March 10 because of the Olympics. They'll have an eight-game road trip prior to the NHL's Olympic break and a six-game trip after it.

"It's a small price to pay to have one of the greatest events in the world happen in your home city," Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell said.

• The St. Louis Blues continue to struggle to find consistency, but coach Andy Murray isn't worried about his job being in danger.

"I never have and never will," Murray told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "What I worry about is how we're going to get the next win."

It says something about how the St. Louis forwards have performed that defenseman Erik Johnson leads the team in scoring with 18 points.

• Boston center Marc Savard's seven-year contract extension has a $4.2 million cap hit.

The list

Here are five reasons to either love or hate the Pittsburgh Penguins, who host the Hawks on Saturday night.

1. Sidney Crosby

Is he the best player in the NHL or the most over-hyped?

2. Those powder blue uniforms

The Penguins say they will do away with them after this season.

3. Matt Cooke

He's usually good for at least one cheap shot per game.

4. Mellon Arena (a.k.a. the Igloo)

It's one of the NHL's biggest dumps with no atmosphere.

5. Game 1 of 1992 Finals

Hawks had an early 3-0 lead but went on to lose, setting the Pens up for their four-game sweep.

Ex-Hawk of the week

The Nashville Predators have scored only 62 goals, but they are 15-10-1 and nipping at the Hawks in the Central Division.

Right wing J.P. Dumont leads the Predators in scoring with 17 points despite appearing in only 19 games.