Alex Ovechkin took to the ice for practice on Monday after a nine-day break due to the Capitals’ bye week and the NHL All-Star break.
After the skate, Ovechkin, the Capitals’ co-team leader in points (31) along with Dylan Strome, was asked by the media about his troubles scoring goals this season. The Great Eight suggested the problems were coming from within.
“I don’t know,” Ovechkin said. “Obviously, it’s up to me what I have to do better to get those shots [going] in. But how I said, sometimes maybe you’re going to have 100 percent chance, but you have to use it. And then when the first goal goes in, you feel much comfortable and you feel much, much better at your game.”
Ovechkin has just 9 goals in the first 44 games this season, and is on pace to score only 16 times by year’s end. If that were to happen, the total would mark Ovechkin’s worst scoring season of his career and the first time he’s scored under 32 goals in a full season. The Capitals captain is shooting just six percent, an 8.3 percent drop from just last season when he potted 42 goals in 73 games. His expected goals number of 16.3 (at all strengths) is nearly double his current total of 9.
Ovechkin, 38, went through a career-worst 14-game goalless streak in November and December, topping his previous longest cold streak of 10 in 2017.
Ovechkin did not point to an injury being a problem moving forward, telling reporters that an issue he was dealing with before the break is now “all good.”
Getting Ovechkin going on a more consistent basis is something head coach Spencer Carbery is also focused on.
“Would we be sitting in a better spot? Maybe,” Carbery said. “Would we have one or two more wins? Potentially, but you could also say that for a lot of guys. So, I try to figure out why is that. That’s where my sleepless nights and mornings are spent. Why is his shooting percentage low this year? How can I help him? We’re working on some different things to get him into situations to score more five-on-five. His five-on-five scoring is an issue and we have to help him.”
Ovechkin has just two five-on-five goals this season — tied for 12th on the team with rookie forward Hendrix Lapierre who has played in almost half the games as Ovi.
Carbery believes that the time off will be beneficial for Ovechkin and the Russian superstar agrees.
“I saw family, my wife saw her family, and we spent great time with the friends and enjoyed our time,” Ovechkin said. “Don’t think about hockey, don’t think about the system, and all that kind of stuff. It was a great week and right now you can see everybody’s fresh, everybody’s happy to back. Tomorrow’s going to be a great day for play hockey.”
Ovechkin, who has 831 career goals — 63 behind Wayne Gretzky, will get his first crack at denting the twine in the second half against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Ovi has torched Montreal in the past, amassing 65 points (37g, 28a) in 56 career games.
