Photo: Patrick Smith

On Tuesday, Alex Ovechkin missed the morning skate and the game against the Sharks later that day. The team said it was for “personal reasons.” Now we know what those reasons were: he overslept practice and was benched by head coach Barry Trotz.

“We have certain accountability rules,” Trotz told reporters at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. “We tried to not make a big deal of it yesterday because it was a game day.”

Ovechkin, for his part, insisted it was mixup and not the result of staying out late.

“I just messed up with my alarm clock, put 8:30 p.m. not a.m.,” Ovechkin said. “I make mistakes.”

When asked what time he woke up, Ovechkin replied “maybe you want to know what time I went to bed?” He declined to elaborate further on his sleep schedule.

In the end, Ovechkin missed a game his team badly needed him in, as the Caps lost 5-0 to the Sharks. Nevertheless, Ovechkin said he was fine with Trotz’s decision.

“It’s the team rules,” Ovechkin said. “We talk, we have conversation, and I think we understand each other.”

“It was suck,” Ovi added.