Alex Ovechkin dumps linesman into the bench on Saturday.

Alex Ovechkin probably won't be getting any favorable calls from the officials on Saturday night, not after how he opened the first period against the New Jersey Devils anyways.

The captain of the Washington Capitals appeared determined to set the tone early in the first period with his physical play and he did just that, delivering several hits over the course of his first few shifts on the ice.

Unfortunately for Ovechkin there would be some collateral damage as a result of him being so physical in the early going, collateral damage that included one of the NHL's linesmen. That linesman was #94 Bryan Pancich and unfortunately he would get the worst of one of Ovechkin's early hits in this game.

Ovechkin saw a vulnerable Tomas Tatar in front of the New Jersey Devils bench and threw his body into Tatar with some force, enough force that he blew through his original target and caught aforementioned linesman Bryan Pancich in his path as well. The force of the hit was enough to send Pancich, who was sitting up on the boards trying to avoid the contact, up and over the boards and into the Devils bench.

Panich went for quite the ride but to his credit he quickly pulled himself back up and got right back into the game despite getting rough up a little.