There are few sports announcer phrases more cliche than "Great players make great plays!" It's right up there with literary assassins like "run the football" or "shoot the basketball." It means absolutely nothing. Anyone can watch a great player make a great play and come away with that conclusion.
And yet, sometimes, it still is the only way to describe a play. Take Alex Ovechkin's goal to give the Washington Capitals a 1-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night, for example.
There was no screen in front of the net to aid Ovechkin's shot. There was no especially great reason why that shot was any easier than all the other unsuccessful shots peppered on goal in that game. It was just Ovechkin getting it done anyway, slipping the shot five-hole past Ondrej Pavelec for the game-winner.
It was just a great player making a great play, which is something we haven't been able to say about Ovechkin much this year.