ARLINGTON, Va. — Alex Ovechkin has just one shot on goal through the first two games of the Washington Capitals‘ first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers, which they trail 2-0.

Coach Spencer Carbery said after the Game 2 loss Tuesday that Ovechkin is “struggling” and looks a bit off. The Capitals need production out of the No. 2 goal-scorer in NHL history, among other things, to get back in the series against the league’s best team from the regular season. Game 3 is at home Friday night.

“I think it’s just settle down a little bit,” Ovechkin said Thursday. “Not good, but sometimes you just have to do what you can do out there: play physical, try to create open space for your linemates. But we’re all in the same boat. We all have to play better if we want to get success.”

Ovechkin’s lowest shot totals through the first two games of a series before now was four (2012 vs. Boston) and five in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final against Vegas. Washington went on to win each series.

The 38-year-old longtime captain and face of the franchise said patience is the key to getting more pucks on net against fellow Russian Igor Shesterkin, who has stopped 42 of the 46 shots he has faced in the series.

“Try to find the lane,” Ovechkin said. “We play against a good hockey team. They’re going to sacrifice their body. They’re going to play hard against our top lines, blocking shots, [be] physical, and we just have to play simple, and if we have the puck on our stick, don’t throw it right away.”

Carbery said he and Ovechkin have had some good discussions about how to get through defenders and be closer to the net for higher-quality opportunities and “attacking as much as he can.”

“That’s not necessarily from the perimeter — getting to the inside, taking a couple extra steps, threaten, change your shot angle,” Carbery said. “And now you’ve changed your shot angle, and now there’s no longer shin pads and a stick in your lane.”

Getting Ovechkin the puck in better positions to shoot is also on the Capitals’ to-do list. It can pay dividends, after he scored just eight goals in his first 43 games this season and finished with 31 after a torrid second half.

Teammates and coaches aren’t worried about Ovechkin and expect him to be able to turn it on. He has 853 goals in the regular season, trailing just Wayne Gretzky, and 72 in the playoffs, one shy of Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski for the most among active players.

“He’ll be good,” Carbery said. “He’s been through so many situations like this. I expect him to step up big time in Game 3.”

TORONTO — Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery thinks goaltender Jeremy Swayman‘s dominance against the Toronto Maple Leafs — before and during their current first-round Stanley Cup playoff series — has started to rattle some players.

Montgomery made that suggestion in reference to an incident late in Boston’s 4-2 victory over the Leafs in Game 3 on Wednesday, when Toronto forward Max Domi appeared to seek out Swayman — owner of a 5-0-0 record versus the Leafs this season — during a TV timeout.

“Normally, I don’t think that [a goalie has one team’s number],” Montgomery said Thursday. “But when Domi goes off the bench and bumps [Swayman] on purpose, makes me think that maybe he’s in their head a little bit.”

Boston forward Trent Frederic — who got the Bruins on the board with a first-period goal in Game 3 — saw the interaction between Domi and Swayman, too. He agreed with Montgomery it might have revealed some mounting exasperation from the Leafs over Swayman’s recent success.

“Maybe Sway is getting in their head; he’s making a lot of saves,” Frederic said. “So, bump our goalies. I don’t know, didn’t work [for them] last night.”

That was ultimately true. Despite any on-ice antics, Swayman downed Toronto once again with a 28-save performance in Game 3 to give Boston a 2-1 series lead. Swayman previously made 35 stops in the Bruins’ 5-1 victory in Game 1, and then was replaced by Linus Ullmark in Game 2 (a 3-2 Bruins loss).

Toronto had better results against Ullmark, but the Leafs still haven’t managed more than three goals in a game so far this postseason. It’s a troubling trend that pre-dates facing Swayman and the Bruins (Toronto’s actually gone 10 consecutive playoff games scoring three or fewer goals) and those struggles have been magnified this time around by their lifeless power play (1-for-11) failing to fire in this series either.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe refuted the Bruins’ narrative though that their goaltender was somehow throwing Toronto off its game. In Keefe’s mind, the Domi bump was just part and parcel of this time of year.

“It’s playoff hockey, and things are happening all over the ice,” said Keefe. “With that logic [from Montgomery] you would say every time they bump into one of our guys maybe we’re in their heads”

Keefe also said he sensed “zero frustration” from his team over the low scoring output. The Leafs have generated their chances against Boston, averaging the third-most shots on goal per game in the postseason (33), but they’re also tied for the fewest goals per game (two).

Toronto’s offensive prospects would be helped by the return of forward William Nylander. The Leafs’ 40-goal scorer in the regular season has missed the first three games of their series due to an undisclosed injury. Keefe was asked again on Thursday about Nylander’s mystery ailment and would not confirm reports that the winger is dealing with migraines. Keefe did say the extra day of rest before Game 4 on Saturday does benefit Nylander though, who’s been classified as a game-time decision twice already in the playoffs.

“We’ve been working with Willy to give him the time that he needs to be ready to play,” said Keefe. “And the medical team works with him on a daily basis to see where he’s at and continue to assess that.”

As for who Toronto can expect to see in Boston’s crease for Game 4, that’s another mind game of its own. The Bruins have religiously rotated Swayman and Ullmark for nearly 30 games, dating back to February. Swayman said after Wednesday’s win that for him, “I don’t want rest; I just want to keep playing.”

The final decision will fall to Montgomery, who wasn’t saying whether Boston would stick with Swayman.

“Both goalies have been so good for us,” said Montgomery. “It’s a hard decision.”

TORONTO — Bob Cole, the voice of hockey in Canada for a half-century who served as the soundtrack for some of the national sport’s biggest moments, has died. He was 90.

Friend and fellow broadcaster John Shannon said Cole died Wednesday night in his hometown of St. John’s, the capital of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the network for which Cole worked, announced his death Thursday.

“He’s such a legend, such a great man,” said Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, a Nova Scotia native. “I’ve met him a few times over the years. At charity golf tournaments in Halifax, he’d come out and support Atlantic Canadians. Amazing person, super funny. Just a great guy and obviously some of the best calls of all time.”

Known for his “Oh baby!” catchphrase, Cole called some iconic games as part of CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada.” His distinctive play-by-play style added even more flavor to the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, the 2002 Olympic final in Salt Lake City and numerous Stanley Cup Finals.

Cole called his first game, on radio, between Boston and Montreal in April 1969 and moved to TV in 1973. He called his last game on April 6, 2019 — the regular-season finale between the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs — and in between was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, winning the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.

Greg Millen, a former NHL goaltender-turned-broadcaster, said Cole’s voice was “almost like a symphony.”

“Bob had an unbelievable ability of bringing the game up and down depending on what was happening on the ice,” Millen said.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe opened his remarks between playoff games Thursday by passing along condolences to Cole’s family.

“Someone who touched the game in so many ways, as an icon in our sport and the voice of hockey, not just in Toronto, but in our country,” Keefe said. “A sad day for sure.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.