It’s been a horrid start to the season for the Capitals, who sit at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with a 1-2-0 record and just four goals scored. Only the Kraken have potted less while playing in as many games. A fair bit of this poor performance has been precipitated by the unusual early-season struggles of captain Alex Ovechkin – as multiple people have pointed out over the last 12 hours, Ovechkin has now failed to record a shot on goal in back-to-back contests for the first time in his 19-season, 1,350-game NHL career.
Ovechkin had four shots on goal in the team’s season-opening loss to the Penguins last week, and it took him until Wednesday night’s 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Senators to record a point – a primary assist on John Carlson’s goal. While head coach Spencer Carbery shuffled around some lines ahead of the Ottawa game, Ovechkin had spent the first two games of the season on a line with Nicklas Bäckström and T.J. Oshie – one that expectedly lacked speed in the year 2023 and struggled heavily to limit defensive opportunities. Ovechkin does, however, lead the team in Corsi share at even strength with 54.5%, and he’s likely been a tad unlucky over the past few contests. Still, the scoring will need to kick into high gear soon for Ovechkin to resume his quest of becoming the NHL’s all-time goals leader.
Other items of interest this Thursday morning:
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