Pittsburgh Police Investigating Death Threat Against Alexander Ovechkin

The Pennsylvania State Police's computer crime task force is investigating a death threat issued against Washington Capitals sniper Alexander Ovechkin.

Pittsburgh Television station WPXI has reported that State Police seized a laptop computer Thursday afternoon from a Chalmersburg, PA residence.

The State Police have discovered that a 17-year-old boy posted the threat Wednesday on a hockey message board.

In the threat, the teen stated that he was going to kill Ovechkin and didn't care if he went to jail.

On Thursday, the Capitals issued the following statement:

"We became aware of an inappropriate comment on a message board and referred it to the appropriate authorities. We appreciate their diligence and have every confidence in our club's safety."

The Pittsburgh Penguins also issued a response to the matter stating, "We were notified of the message and immediately turned over all the information to the authorities."

ESPN has reported that NHL officials didn't believe that Ovechkin was in any danger. and that the Russian superstar was aware of the threat but didn't comment on it.

Ovechkin has also reportedly had a police escort since the Capitals flew into Pittsburgh for Games Three and Four of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Update: On Friday, Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said he doesn't believe the threat against Ovechkin will be a distraction for his team.

“I don’t even know if Alex knew about (the threat) the last game,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure that the rest of the team didn’t know about it. It should be done today, so I don’t think it poses an issue."

Washington's star winger  has scored in every game in the playoff series against the Pens, including the first goal in Wednesday night's game.

The Penguins and Capitals are set to play Game Four on Friday night in Pittsburgh, with Game Five going Saturday night in Washington.