The games keep adding up. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has now gone 11 games without a goal and has just five goals in 26 outings. Talks are growing that this could be the worst season of his entire career as he is currently on pace to finish with under 20 for the first time since he was drafted first overall in 2004. This is the first 11-game drought of his 19-season career.
Prior to Thursday’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, his head coach Spencer Carbery had made a statement on his captain, reassuring fans that Ovi was in “a good headspace” and that he felt confident as ever.
Unfortunately, it has not been showing on the ice, and on Friday morning, there are now “203 individual players who have scored more goals than Ovechkin has this year.”
Who could have imagine we’d be saying this after the watch has been on in the chase for Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record. At the time, it seemed like a matter of games, heck, he needs just 73 goals to pass Gretzky for the all-time crown.
But he needs to find the back of the net to do so, and heck, it’s not the case at the moment…
No one knows what is the cause of Ovechkin’s woes, but it may be just age… After all, Ovechkin turned 38 on Sept. 17. However, some fans and pundits are wondering about lingering injuries that could be affecting his shot and performance. Last season he dealt with a couple of ailments and admitted to enjoying an extended offseason for better recovery. Could he still be dealing with some pain or nagging aliment?
There is also the fact that Nicklas Backstrom isn’t around anymore to pass the puck to Ovechkin… Backstrom has assisted on most of Ovechkin’s goals over the course of his career and it has to be quite different on the ice for the captain without his best passer.
Coach Carbery believes it’s only a matter of time for the star to bust out. But we need to see it happened, sooner rather than later.
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