Alexander Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL regular season goals record has been one of, if not the biggest, storylines in the league in recent seasons. Every year there is talk about whether Ovechkin is the same or not, but Alexander simply continues doing what he does best: scoring.
Ovechkin, however, is no longer the same. But this does not mean that it has gotten worse, no: the NHL is changing rapidly and, with it, Washington’s own captain. Which, in general, allows him to remain at a high level at 38 years old: the ability to adapt to new conditions and at the same time be at the forefront is a sign of the incredible professionalism that Alexander demonstrates season after season. Age, of course, makes itself felt: Ovi is no longer as fast and durable compared to young players, but at the same time, his distinctive abilities compensate for these shortcomings. And here he is still able to give an advantage to a good part of the new generation of hockey players.
He is less than 50 goals away from Gretzky’s record: yesterday’s double against Toronto allowed Ovechkin to surpass this mark and be 49 accurate shots away from achieving the Greatest. The star striker continues his path towards absolute greatness, something that is becoming increasingly clear.
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Gretzky is only 49 goals away! Ovechkin scored his second consecutive double, matching another NHL legend
Many doubted and still doubt his ability to become the most productive sniper in NHL history. Several reasons could worry Alexander: the lack of physics, the loss of his father, the departure from the team of Bäckström, with whom Ovechkin traveled side by side to the capitals, and then Kuznetsov, the general degradation of the team… but still He is in the race and at what speed too.
The first half of the season was really unsuccessful for him: in the first 41 matches, Alexander scored only eight times. 0.19 goals per game is a so-so statistic by Richard’s nine-time winner’s standards. At the same time, the conversion percentage was abnormally low: only 5.9% of shots on goal turned on the red light behind Ovechkin’s opponents’ goal. Of course, this couldn’t continue all the time.
In the second half we see the Ovechkin (or rather, the performance) that we are used to seeing throughout his career. Since January 23, the day Alexander played his 42nd game of the season, he has been among the top ten snipers in the league. In 24 games during this period, Ovechkin scored 15 goals and his shooting percentage skyrocketed to 18.1%.
Top NHL Snipers as of January 23, 2024
PlayerClubMatchesGoalsZach Hyman “Edmonton” 2520 Auston Matthews “Toronto” 2319 Brayden Point “Tampa Bay” 2219 Kirill Kaprizov “Minnesota” 2418 Nathan MacKinnon “Colorado” 2216 Philip Forsberg “Nashville” 2316 Jonathan Marchessault “Vegas” 2216 Nick Suzuki “Montreal” 2315 William Nylander “A Ronto”2315Alexander Ovechkin”Washington”2415
As you can see, Ovechkin is not far behind Auston Matthews, who, however, still plays in a separate league throughout the season. It is also nice to highlight the presence of Kirill Kaprizov in this top. The Minnesota forward has scored as many goals in his last 24 games as he has in his first 39.
As for Alexander, at the moment his professional productivity is above average. Thanks to the last two months, he now scores 0.35 goals per game this season, up from 0.63 since January 23! With an average of 0.6 per game in his career. And this without his main assistants! In general, this may be one of the reasons for his improved performance: the defeats of the “Capitals” shook Ovechkin emotionally. And his rebirth was definitely influenced by a trip to Dubai during the All-Star break; Afterwards, the forward began scoring regularly.
Ovechkin is in excellent shape, and this is very important in the context of not only his pursuit of Gretzky’s record, but also Washington’s fight for a playoff spot; To the surprise of many, the capital is still fighting for a wild card. and every Alexander goal could help the team clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup.
