Fresh off of Presidents’ Trophy and another playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the start of the 2016-17 season, Capitals coach Barry Trotz decided to try something different with superstar forward Alex Ovechkin: He cut his minutes. The purpose of playing him less was so he would be more ‘fresh’ for the playoffs.
That season, the Capitals finished with another Presidents’ Trophy, with a record of 55-18-8, and a +81 goal differential. Ovechkin scored a ‘paltry’ 33 goals that season, with the reduction in minutes costing him about 17 goals, as he was otherwise scoring 50 a season during those years. The Caps didn’t actually need those extra goals, so no one blinked an eye about his drop in production.
After another playoff loss to the Penguins, Trotz played Ovechkin 20:09 a game in 2017-18. Ovechkin scored 49 goals. The team wasn’t as good that regular season, though they won the Stanley Cup. Ovechkin’s goal differential between the two seasons was attributed to the extra minutes.
This season, Ovechkin is playing a career-low 17:37 a game as of Sunday’s 7-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers, where he had a hat trick and netted his 29th goal of the season. His goal total this season comes despite missing 16 games due to a leg injury in December.
Though Ovechkin has been fairly consistent throughout his career, averaging about .6 goals a game, the 2016-17 season made it appear that he needed extra minutes to score goals, even on the top team in the league.
This year, with fewer minutes, fewer games and again on one of the top teams in the league, Ovi is surpassing everything he did in a similar situation eight years ago. When we account for age, his 29 goals in 41 games this season is nothing short of incredible, as it would be a 58-goal pace in a full season.
With proof that he’s capable of scoring at this pace – and at this age – with fewer minutes per game, it makes us wonder why he didn’t do this in 2016-17 as well. Perhaps the race to the record is the motivating factor? Who knows? One this is for sure: Ovechkin is playing his best hockey in years.
