Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin Chasing History Through Slump

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has been sitting on 899 career goals for the past four games. With just two goals in the first 12 games, Ovi has been impatiently attempting to become the first player in NHL history to record 900 career goals. He’s just one away, but that one goal feels more elusive than any previous one the league’s greatest goal scorer has ever recorded.

The Capitals captain gets his next shot in a contest against the St. Louis Blues. Scoreless in his last four contests, Ovi is hoping to get the monkey off his back and net number 900. Not only will it be a history-making goal, it will also help get the struggling Capitals offense going.

Reviving the Power Play

Ovechkin’s calling card is the power play. Armed with a booming shot, he’s set up his office on the left side of the zone over his career. It's led to 326 power play goals over his illustrious career, but he's still searching for his first power play tally of the 2025-2026 season.

It’s not a surprise, then, to find out their power play is struggling. They currently rank 27th in the NHL, converting on just 15% of their man advantage opportunities. The Capitals head coach, Spencer Carbery, recently talked about how they can try to generate more scoring chances on the power play.

“We’ve got to do a better job as a staff, and we need the power play players that are out there to do a better job of making sure that those minutes we are on the power play are productive, and we’re generating something,” he said. “Again, it’s not about scoring, but we have to be able to generate something in those opportunities, and not just constantly go back behind our net, which you are witnessing far too often with our power plays.”