^ Malkin is a good all-around player who uses his linemates - he can afford to - he's the center. Ovechkin is setup to either take the shot right away or leads the rush on the wing by himself. He's left with the option to take a shot on the rush (which he scores a lot on) or stop and wait for all his linemates to get in the zone and by then so are the defensemen/backcheckers. You don't get many 3-man rushes with Ovie carrying the puck like you would with Malkin. Centers are always way back in their own zone to start and lead many rushes themselves because of this, and that's why they have linemates on either side ready for him. Wingers are not doing the same thing... they always look to get open for a pass on the rush or in the zone. Different players, different contributions, different individual skills.
Ovie only plays with Semin when they are desperate for a goal much like when Malkin/Crosby are paired... outside of that he's maybe played with him a handful of games, it is nowhere near full time... Kozlov was the RW. Backstrom carries the mail for Ovechkin and the best you'll see Ovie pass on the rush from the wing is if Backstrom crashes the net which never happens. Teams play to their strengths and that's getting Ovie the puck to shoot. When Semin played on his wing all the two of them did was over-pass. "Too cute" was heard way too often. You have a sniper, you get him the puck to shoot. If you're Malkin and play with scrubs, you hold onto the puck until you draw everyone to you then you give it up. That's their strength. How this makes Ovechkin a worse player is beyond me. Centers naturally will get more assists because they have more options on rushes. When everything filters through you, it is easy to pile on the assists, especially when you have more options to begin with. Try scoring goals carrying the puck in like that, then you will know you are truly gr8. (hint hint) This is why passing for points as a center is inherently easier, not to mention, the better play for them.
One other thing about this whole defense thing. I don't know what examples they've seen where Ovie was dogging it if it's an odd-man rush. I've never seen it. He's made numerous plays as last man or two back in the defensive zone either knocking the puck away with a dive or just destroying the puck carrier completely - does any of that go noticed? Not by other fans it doesn't. He coasts when it's a 2-on-2 and he's the 3rd man for his team. He is not diving in front of point shots and he just gives it a stick wave, doing curls in case the puck gets loose so he gets sprung. Is this what people refer to? I don't know what kind of defensive prowess you expect from a winger. Their job is to stay on their point-man. I hope you're not comparing defensive-showings between a center and a winger. Hell, I've seen Backstrom perform takeaways against the end-boards more often than Ovie... does that mean he's a better defensive player? Or because it's a trait each center has to have and his position gives him these opportunities? Arguing this point to put Ovie down is ludicrous.
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