Alex Ovechkin gets his second of the game, extending the Capitals lead to 4.

Alexander Semin tees off a slap shot that beats Peter Budaj up high.

Mathieu Perreault nets three against the Bruins, giving the Caps plenty of offense on Tuesday night.

Alexander Semin moves in on a 2 on 1 and sets up Alex Ovechkin with a perfect one-timer pass to put the Caps up 3-2.

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has been suspended for three games without pay for a charging incident in which he launched himself to hit Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek during NHL Game #714 in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jan. 22, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Ovechkin will forfeit $154,677.75. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Alex Ovechkin will not be in Ottawa for the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game.

Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee said Tuesday that Ovechkin has decided to remove himself from the weekend’s events because of a three-game suspension handed to him by the NHL on Monday. McPhee said Ovechkin doesn’t want to be a distraction. McPhee also said the team supports the decision.

The NHL suspended Ovechkin for a charging incident involving Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek in their game Sunday. The suspension did not preclude him from participating in the All-Star Game or any of its ancillary events.

“Because he’s a suspended player, he doesn’t feel he deserves to be there, so he’s not going to go,” said McPhee. “He doesn’t want to be a distraction to the event.”

Ovechkin told reporters his heart is not in it to be in Ottawa and he doesn’t deserve to be there because of the suspension.

Both Ovechkin and McPhee said they were disappointed with the ruling. McPhee said he thought it would be a one-game ban or a fine. Ovechkin said he was not targeting Michalek’s head on the play, and that had the defenseman stood up and tried to hit him back it would have been a shoulder-to-shoulder hit.

“I was disappointed, actually,” said Ovechkin. “The big thing is all my career it is going to be like that. My game is play physical. My game is play hard. I don’t think it was bad hit, a dirty hit. Yeah, I jumped but he don’t get hurt and I don’t get two minutes. I don’t think it was a three-game suspension.”

The incident occurred at 4:05 of the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Mathieu Perreault uses Josh Gorges as a screen and pounds a shot to the top corner on Carey Price.

Alex Ovechkin lets out a roar at the Bell Centre after this slapshot from the point.

Per :

Washington GM George McPhee confirmed to reporters Tuesday morning at Kettler Capitals Iceplex that defenseman Mike Green will undergo abdominal surgery. Dr. Michael Brunt will perform the surgery Tuesday in St. Louis and Green is expected to miss between four and six weeks.

Green was placed on long-term injured reserve by the Capitals last week.

“It’s basically a sports hernia, but there are a couple parts to it,” McPhee said during the Capitals’ morning skate ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Islanders. “One was a tendon issue, one was a little tear in the stomach (lining). The tendon healed just fine, but the hole didn’t close up. We just need to close that thing up. It just never really healed to the point he can play with it effectively.”

Green initially suffered what was considered a groin injury Nov. 11 at New Jersey. It was his first game back after missing six straight games with an ankle injury.

Mike Green

Defense – WSH

GOALS: 3 | ASST: 3 | PTS: 6
SOG: 20 | +/-: 1

He missed the next 23 games before returning on Jan. 3 at Calgary. He made it through his first game back, but Green played only nine shifts totaling 7:11 of ice time in his second game back, Jan. 7 at San Jose, and he’s been out ever since.

McPhee said surgery was not considered necessary after Green suffered his initial injury in New Jersey more than two months ago.

“You always want to take the conservative approach,” McPhee said. “We did, and parts of it went real well and one part didn’t go so well, so we need to repair the one area. It will now eliminate the unknown. Sometimes when you take the conservative approach, it takes a while and you don’t really know when the player is going to be ready. With this procedure, we know when the player should be ready.”

McPhee said Dr. Blunt has performed this type of surgery on former Capitals players Jamie Heward and Chris Clark.

“We think he’s the best at this particular surgery,” McPhee said. “Our medical staff obviously consulted with him early on with Mike. The consensus of the group and the doctor was let’s go conservative, initially. And that didn’t work out, so now you get a more aggressive approach. Hopefully there’s some finality to it and he’s ready to go in four to six (weeks).”

Green has played in only 10 games this season and the Capitals have won nine of them. Going back to last season, Green has appeared in only 12 of Washington’s last 72 games due to a variety of injuries.

Green is a restricted free agent following the season. He is in the final year of a four-year contract that pays him $5.25 million annually.

McPhee also said center Nicklas Backstrom is progressing in his recovery from a concussion and could return before the All-Star break. Backstrom will miss his sixth straight game Tuesday since being flagrantly elbowed in the head by ex-Flames forward Rene Bourque on Jan. 3. Bourque, who is now with the Canadiens, received a five-game suspension.

The Capitals will face Bourque and the Canadiens on Wednesday in Montreal.

“Whenever he’s ready to get going we’ll get him going,” McPhee said of Backstrom. “But obviously we’re going to be real careful because we want this to be a one-time thing and something we never have to worry about again.”