Of course, the time has not yet come to beat the tom-toms. Remember how something similar already happened to Ovechkin in the 2008/09 season. He only scored three times in 12 matches, but he eventually scored 56 goals and won his next Maurice Richard Trophy, the league’s best sniper award.
Of course, there is a nuance: Ovi was then 15 years younger.
If you ask Washington a question – are there any concerns about the decline in Ovechkin’s performance – then we will probably get the answer: “Yes, we beat a strong New Jersey away (4:2 ), and everyone worked well for the team. And the captain scored 1 (0+1) point per pass, made three shots and made three hits. It’s obvious he’s trying.
But we’re counting on when Ovechkin (824) will catch up with Wayne Gretzky (894) in goals. This was supposed to happen in the middle of next season. But so far, Alexander the Great is on pace to score 14 league goals, which seems to be an anomaly for him. We will therefore have to wait until 2026 for him to join Gretzky. But then Ovechkin will be over 40 years old.
In general, the situation seems alarming. And we decided to name five reasons for what is happening to Ovechkin.
1. It has no normal center
As you know, Nicklas Backstrom has already announced his retirement. He probably won’t return to hockey. But Ovechkin scored most of his goals thanks to passes from Becky.
Okay, the Swede is a shadow of his former self these days. But for some reason, new Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery didn’t even assign Evgeny Kuznetsov to Ovechkin at first. And what’s more, he criticized Kuzya for his game.
With New Jersey, the coach finally created the Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson trio. And what? Ovi passed the ball, Kuzya made a double.
— Kuznetsov’s line immediately set the tone for the match. We played with good energy and were active with the puck. I liked the play of that line, they did a lot of good things,” Carbery said.
2. Washington has a new coach at the helm
It also helps that Carbery, 42, has never been an NHL head coach before. He lacks experience. For two years he was part of the Toronto headquarters, created by young reformer – general manager Kyle Dubas. He was eventually discharged and Dubas moved to Pittsburgh. Carbery himself visited Washington. And it seems like he’s just looking to manage such a big team. Like an inexperienced but ambitious driver who gets behind the wheel of a Ferrari and watches which buttons to press, which levers to pull.
In particular, this is due to the fact that Washington failed to launch the championship. And there, the statistics were bad for everyone, not just for Ovechkin.
We must pay tribute to the patience of Alexander the Great, he does not even hint that there could be criticism from him towards the coach. He’s a team player. But the fact is that Carbery has only just arrived at a combination of the first link, which seems obvious to everyone and the only correct one. Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson. Well, what else? Leave them together and let them play!
3. The team is restructuring
Everyone in Washington is waiting for Ovechkin to pass Gretzky. In this case, we cannot do without restructuring the composition. Aging leaders are leaving. And the team has a lot of injured players: Max Pacioretty, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Anthony Mantha, Joel Edmundson and Backstrom. They all have to be paid. And now there are many young people who are not yet ready to become leaders.
Why criticize Ovechkin? He is the Capitals’ top scorer (2+7=9). But look, no one in Washington has scored even 10 points in this championship. The whole team completely sank.
Washington was once the most offensive team in the league. The Capitals now sit second to last in the NHL in goals scored (28). The only thing worse is poor San Jose (17). That’s the main reason Ovechkin isn’t scoring – because Washington’s entire offense has collapsed. And it’s a miracle that in this situation the team is two points from the playoff zone. “Stolychnye” should have been at the bottom of the rankings for a long time.
4. Ovechkin gets even more playing time
How has Ovechkin’s role changed under the new coach? His playing time has even increased compared to last season (from 20.12 to 20.29 minutes per game on average). Alexander the Great now plays 5.15 minutes on the power play, up from 4.42 last season.
In other words, what did Washington’s new coach do? It comes to the team like this: “We have Ovi. Let him play hard! At the same time, the Capitals roster has drastically shrunk and Ovechkin is not getting any younger. Besides, he is already 38 years old. And instead of taking care of the veteran and better distributing the load on him, Carbery only increases it, without providing Ovi with support in the form of an integral stable unit and a powerful attack of the three.
5. Sasha stopped hitting often
Last season, Ovechkin took 294 shots in 73 games (an average of 4.03 per game). This season, Ovi has made 48 shots in 12 games (4.00 per game). In other words, Alexander has not reduced his shooting activity, even though he is not receiving enough support from the rest of the attack. But last season his conversion rate was 14.3% (he scored 42 goals), which is even higher than usual. And this year, Ovi only takes 4.2% of his shots. However, he only scored one power play goal, which was always his crowning achievement.
Another overall conclusion is that Ovechkin needs to adjust his aim. And believe in your luck. He has never been below 8.7% in his career. And then he scored 32 goals that season.
In general, Ovechkin is guaranteed to break through. It’s inevitable. Maybe he’ll score in the next game – next night Washington plays the Islanders. But the main problem: young coach Carbery needs to learn faster. And he must establish the offense of all Washington, and not “ride” a veteran Ovechkin, who needs help.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
