Ovechkin fights -- almost

The Capitals' 7-4 loss at Tampa Bay on Jan. 12 was notable for a near-fight between Alex Ovechkin and the Lightning's Steve Downie. It was a near-fight because Ovechkin's teammate Matt Bradley skated in and took on Downie before Ovechkin could get entangled.

The Post's Tarik El-Bashir's had details of the Ovechkin-Downie incident on the Capitals Insider blog:

When Ovechkin and Downie came out of the [penalty] box, they quickly found each other and squared off again. It was the last thing Boudreau or the rest of the Caps wanted to see.

"The last thing you want to see is Alex fighting," Brian Pothier said. "I think Brads did a real heroic thing [by] stepping in. It's not that Ovie can't handle himself. We all know he's one of the strongest guys in the league, but we don't need him to be [fighting]."

Boudreau added: "You knew Matt would step in. The last thing we want is Alex fighting."

Dan Steinberg broke down the Ovechkin-Downie-Bradley confrontation with photos on the D.C. Sports Bog.