“I help make scoar!” (Photo credit: dynamo.ru)

A few days after Alex Ovechkin signed a lockout contract with Dynamo Moscow, the Capitals captain did an interview explicitly saying he did not want to take over the captaincy like his friend Ilya Kovalchuk did with SKA St. Petersburg.

“This is a new team, I don’t know most of the guys here,” Ovechkin was quoted as saying by Dynamo’s official website. “Even if they offered me the C, I would decline. This team has leaders, veterans. And then a player with a big name shows up and muscles his way in? It would be disrespectful.”

Circumstances have changed. As Ovechkin and co. suited up against Severstal Cherepovets on Friday, normal Dynamo captain Yuri Babenko was unavailable (without explanation). Ovechkin was awarded the temporary captaincy of the team. Despite having Ovi as “kapitan,” Dynamo suffered a rare defeat, 4-2 loss to Severstal.

Ovi and Backstrom’s assist comes at the 2:27 mark.

Two days after putting up a hat trick against Vityaz, Nicklas Backstrom was held to a single point, combining with Ovechkin to assist on Richard Gynge’s second period goal. Ovi (2 shots, 16:14 TOI) and Backstrom (4 shots, 18:15 TOI) combined to fire six shots on net.

Post-game, Ovechkin embraced his leadership: complaining about the officiating.

“It is totally unnecessary to comment on this game,” Ovechkin exasperatedly told Sportbox.ru’s Konstantin Rumyantsev… before commenting on the game. “In my opinion, for the referees, there was only one team out there – Severstal. Every period the refs were breaking up our game with penalties.”

“I don’t want to say anything, but you just can’t referee like they did in this game,” Ovechkin continued.  What was the reason for the penalty shot? I have no idea.  To give a penalty shot for high sticking – that’s kids’ hockey.”

Oh, Ovi. Never change.

Funny pic: The team’s normal captain, Yuri Babenko, is interviewed under watchful eye of an Ovi cardboard cut-out at the team’s practice facility. (Photo credit: @dynamo_ru)

Translations by Igor Kleyner.