It’s no secret that Alex Ovechkin’s point totals the past two years have been a disappointment when compared to the ridiculously higher numbers he put up in the seasons before that. But even last year, when he posted career lows in several categories, he still managed to match a career high with 11 game winning goals and still led the league in shots. This season, however, is a different story. Let’s take a look:
| Stats | Analysis |
| Games played: 78 | Considering how hard he plays, it’s a wonder that he still is healthy enough to suit up for this many games, three of which were lost to a suspension. |
| Goals: 38 | This is up from 32 the previous season, which is a relief because he finished strong and also in the top five in the league. He’s certainly capable of improving on this next year. |
| Assists: 27 | This is the most worrisome. It didn’t help that Nick Backstrom and Mike Green missed much of the year, but his previous career low was 46 in his sophomore year. To really put this in perspective, Sidney Crosby had 29 assists – in 22 games total. |
| Points: 65 | Ovi’s 65 points was still enough to lead the team, but 20 fewer than last season and definitely not what the team banked on with his contract. |
| Plus/minus: -8 | This is down from +24 last season and +45 the year before that. |
| Penalty minutes: 26 | This is a career low, with an average of 53 a year. |
| Hits: 215 | This is down from 241 last season, but he only had 185 the year before that. |
| Blocked shots: 42 | This is up from 23 last season. |
| Power play goals: 13 | This is up from a lousy 7 last season, and matches his number from two seasons ago. |
| Power play assists: 10 | The fact that 10 of his 27 assists were with the man advantage paints an even bleaker picture of these numbers. |
| Shorthanded goals/assists: 0 | Ovi doesn’t kill penalties, which certainly puts him in a different category than other great players. |
| Game-winning goals: 3 | This is a career low, down from 11 last season, and the team’s record reflects that. |
| Shots on goal: 303 | Ovi’s reign as the NHL’s shots-on-goal champion ends. His career low was still good enough for 6th in the league, but he has routinely ran away with this category each of his first six seasons. Last year he had 367. |
| Shooting percentage: .125 | Here’s some good news – this is up from .087 last year, bringing his career percentage to .120. |
Though this season, statistically, has been Ovechkin’s worst, he’s still plenty capable of taking over games and skating circles around opponents, just as he’s done down the stretch this year.
Last year we gave each of Ovi’s seasons a nickname. We hoped to call this one ‘Redemption‘ but it appears ‘The Assist Slump’ will have to do, assuming ‘The Conn Smythe Winner’ season doesn’t happen. Also check out how our panelists predicted Ovi would do before the season started. Note: They were all wrong.
