Alex Ovechkin has been fairly consistent throughout his career, averaging about .6 goals per game. And though he just broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record, there were a few times in the past 20 seasons when his scoring went off track. These three seasons are glaring on the goal-pace-per-season chart:
The 2010-11 Season
This is the year that the Washington Capitals hired coach Dale Hunter and started trying a trap-defense style of play. This hindered Ovi’s ability to score, as he had only 32 that season, 18 fewer than the previous season. Sports Illustrated called Ovi a ‘Falling Star‘ at the time. While Ovi netted 38 the next season, his overall point total fell by 20, down to 65 from the previous year.
At this point, there was more talk of his ability to win a Stanley Cup than there was any in regard to goal-scoring, and it seemed that his Rocket Richard days were behind him.
Ovi came bursting back to his old ways in the 2012-13 season by winning the Rocket Richard again and winning his third MVP. There was only one problem, though: It was a shortened season, so his 32 goals didn’t make a huge dent in the chase.
Ovi’s next three seasons were nothing short of superb, as he scored 51, 53 and 50 goals each of those years and erased all doubt that he was no longer the goal-scoring threat that he had been earlier in his career.
There was one problem, though. He had yet to win a Stanley Cup.
The 2016-17 Season
Capitals coach Barry Trotz tried something different with Ovi in the 2016-17 season: He cut his minutes. The idea was that by playing him less, he would be more ‘fresh’ for the playoffs.
Other than cutting into Ovi’s goal totals, it wasn’t the worst idea, as the Capitals were so good that season, they didn’t actually need more goals from Ovi. They finished the season with the best record, and this time, it seemed obvious why he only scored 33 goals in then a career low of 18:22 of ice time.
Eight years later – this season – he would get fewer minutes of ice time per game, but would score more goals. That makes us wonder what changed, as it clearly wasn’t just ice time that led to the drop in production. Perhaps it was a will to get the Gr8Chase over with.
Ovi followed up his 33-goal season with three more brilliant ones: 49, 51 and 48. But the 48 goal season came in 68 games, meaning he was on pace for about 58 before the season was shortened due to COVID-19.
Then came another shortened season, as 2020-21 limited him to only 24 goals in 45 games. The per-game average was good, but his total suffered. It was also a frustrating season, as he missed four games because he broke COVID protocol, then another seven due to injury.
Ovi’s next two seasons were great, as he scored 50 in 2021-22, and then 42 in 2022-23, though his per-game average was 47 that season.
With 822 goals, the record was in sight, but there would still be a major hurdle ahead.
The 2023-24 Season
Despite the fact that the 2023-24 season was statistically the worst of his career, at 38 years old, Ovi could be forgiven for a measly 31 goals and 65 points.
But it wasn’t the overall total of goals that left fans worried… it was the start to his season, where he only had eight goals in his first 43 games to the season. That pace wasn’t anywhere close enough to break the record.
After an eight-game goalless drought, Ovi then scored 23 goals in his last 36 games, putting him back to a 50+ goal pace per season.
He continued the pace through the 2024-25 season, never going more than three consecutive games without a goal, and is now on the verge of history.
Ovi had mini-slumps just about every year, only to make up for them with multi-goal games. But these three seasons in particular were the only times when Ovi slowed down.
