The Goal: Beat Ovechkin At His Own Game

"After faceoff, when I get the puck, you have to stop me," he says.

I try to think of some trash talk of my own. I had a list of Russian phrases (Ovechkin's native language) that I'd left at home, but I doubt that "hello," "how are you," "thank you" and "goodbye" are that intimidating. The urge to say "I must break you" keeps creeping into my head, but I decide against it.

The first game is competitive from the get-go. He scores the first goal on a shot that seems like it was from mid-ice. I'm surprised the official didn't raise his arms and give him three points for it. I even the score with a goal, but he comes right back, scoring off a rebound my goalie couldn't grab. It's 2-1 and he's feeling confident. In the final period of the first game, Ovechkin sends a message by taking control of himself, lining up about 10 feet from my goalie and crushing a slap shot into the net for a 3-1 lead. I struggle the whole game to score and wonder if the people at EA made goalie Olie Kolzig invulnerable. Ovechkin seconds that thought.

"Olie," he says, "he's good."

Actually, I know EA does an excellent job of replicating specific attributes for each player in the game. Kolzig is a great goalie in real life, and in the game, but the truth is my passing stinks and I'm blowing my one-on-one opportunities during breakaways.

I get a garbage goal with 20 seconds left in the game to make it a respectable 3-2 loss, much to the dismay of Ovechkin.

"Twenty seconds," he says. "Unbelievable."

I'm in serious trouble. If I lose the second game, he will win the series without even needing a third game, forever staining the reputation of video game journalists. I need a win. Badly.

I come out firing, taking an early 1-0 lead. Ovechkin ties the game, but then I score three unanswered goals while stepping up my defense -- making sure I put a hit on whomever Ovechkin is skating. Moves on offense and defense are easier than in previous games because the thumb sticks control movement. The left thumb stick is your skates, while the right is your hockey stick on offense. On defense the right thumb stick becomes your defensive checking option. This provides a feel of total control when playing. I finish with a 4-1 victory. Ovechkin shows that he has one part of American sports video-gaming down with an impressive array of English profanity, especially after Caps PR guy Corey Masse tells Alex his video game counterpart needs to work on his defense, "just like in real life."

Now comes the deciding third game. The United States vs. Russia. Ovechkin scores first on a goal by Sergei Fedorov. What happens next is a shock to me and everyone in the room watching as I score five unanswered goals, the last a rocket slap shot by Mike Modano that bounces off Ovechkin's goalie's shoulder and into the net.

Witnesses in the room call it a modern-day miracle on ice. Ovechkin gets up.

"In this game, 5-1 is okay," he says. "In real life" -- he pauses -- "doesn't happen."

NHL 07 Everyone 10+; PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows XP ($29.99); PSP ($39.95); Xbox 360 ($59.95) EA Sports