The Washington Capitals scored six goals against the Detroit Red Wings Thursday night, but their legendary superstar did not figure into the offense. At all.
For the first time in 315 National Hockey League games, Alex Ovechkin did not record a shot on goal. He did record two shot attempts however.
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It’s only the seventh time in Ovechkin’s career (894 games) that he has not recorded a shot.
Ovechkin, who recently took over the league lead in shots from Brent Burns, now trails Burns again 213 to 210.
The last time Ovechkin failed to put rubber on net was on March 12, 2013 during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Justin Peters shutout the Capitals at Verizon Center 4-0, pushing their record to 10-14-1.
From CBS Sports’ game recap, Alexander Semin was part of the reason why Ovechkin did not have a shot on goal.
Semin, booed throughout the game by fans frustrated by his moody play during seven seasons in Washington, had the primary assist [on Corvo’s goal].
“I was aiming for like the back of him, his back, anywhere up there,” Corvo said. “And it just so happened to hit his head.”
Semin went down twice early in the second period but stayed in the game. The first time came when he was struck by good friend Alex Ovechkin, who was taking a shot and hit Semin in the face with his stick during the follow-through. It was the most noteworthy moment of the night for Ovechkin, who didn’t register a shot on goal.
Thursday also marked Ovechkin’s lowest time on ice of the season. Ovechkin received 19 shifts from Barry Trotz which amounted to 13:54 of ice time. This replaces Ovechkin’s season low from November 15 where he skated 14:12 against Columbus.
On the season, Ovechkin has 26 goals, the third most in the league. On average, Ovechkin has skated 18:19 per game, which is two minutes below normal ice time from last season.
Full Coverage of Caps vs Red Wings
Headline photo: Patrick Smith
