(Caps Outsider)
The Washington Capitals played only their 50th game without Alex Ovechkin in the lineup, dating back to his first game on October 5, 2005. Needless to say, the Caps have not been a very good team without their captain, falling to 23-23-4 all-time. Even worse, their 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday was their 6th loss in a row without Ovi, and their third this season.
It’s not a huge surprise that the Capitals struggle without Ovechkin, mainly because he misses so few games, relatively speaking, so they don’t have much time to practice without him or find a suitable replacement (as if anyone could replace The Great 8).
On average, the Caps win games 3.08 to 2.8 when Ovi is in the lineup, but lose them 2.9 to 3.08 when he isn’t playing. It should be noted, however, that eight of the games that Ovi has missed came late in the season, where a playoff spot was already locked up and they had every reason to be cautious with his late-season nagging injuries. The Caps are 2-5-1 in those games and were shut out twice, but all were fairly irrelevant.
The games he’s missing this season, however, may prove to be the most consequential, as the Caps are battling for the last playoff spot. And that’s not to say the Caps will suddenly start winning with him – the team has been struggling this season for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are injuries to top players.
Ovechkin is currently in Russia because his father, Mikhail, passed away. Of the 50 games he’s missed, only 28 have been due to an injury, while the rest were suspensions, COVID restrictions, and a few other reasons including family matters.
Here is a list of all of the games that Ovi has missed.
