Even before the start of the National Hockey League season, hardly anyone — I seriously expected to see good results and brilliant play from the Washington Capitals. The club has updated its coaching staff, but the players for the most part remain the same. Therefore, the current performance of the “capital” and their position in the standings does not surprise anyone. Five wins in 11 matches and only 24 goals scored with 34 missed — this is approximately the start of the championship that was expected for the Caps.
But many have long been interested not in the affairs of Washington, but in the performance of the team captain. Moreover, this applies not only to the Russian public, where they naturally believe and hope that Alexander Ovechkin will quickly rise to first place in the list of the best snipers in NHL history. This is not the first year they have been actively talking about this in North America, where they publish material after material about the Russian’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s record. However, this season on both sides of the ocean we can only note Ovechkin’s decline. Was Alexander really overcome by a crisis? Has the time really come when the talk of skeptics that “Ovechkin is aging and losing his former strength” has become relevant?
Statistics hint at exactly this.
Following the results of 11 championship matches, the Russian sniper has only two goals: one goal was scored in a lost match, when Ovechkin made as many as 14 shots and still hit the opponent’s goalkeeper, the second into an empty net.
Alexander’s last goal to date happened two weeks ago. Five matches have already passed since then. Perhaps not exactly the numbers that Ovi’s fans were expecting from their idol. It's funny, but even taking into account such indicators, the Russian remains Washington's top scorer this season (8 points, 2+6) and is by far the leader in the number of shots on target (45), although at the start of the championship he played two games in a row without them at all. However, what they expect from Ovechkin is goals, and he’s still having a hard time with that.
«Ask anyone in our locker room about their scores — every player — and hardly anyone will tell you that they are happy right now. We have a lot of chances, chances, but we just can't hit the other goal. That's all. I think , it's just such a period of time. We are working on it. We have a new coaching staff, we need time to understand what we should do. My performance? I have a chance, but sometimes you need to look at yourself and think that in certain moments, you need to act differently. Now is just a period when there is some bad luck. I think that we are moving in the right direction,» Alexander Ovechkin spoke to the media the day before.
If we put aside the obvious attempt by the Russian leader of Washington to instill optimism in the fans and look at things adequately, it is worth noting several points. Firstly, the Capitals are really just getting used to the demands of the new coaching staff, and a large number of mistakes made follow from the simplest logic — the stars do not gain a second youth, and their successors are not up to the level. Secondly, Ovechkin himself began to play somewhat differently.
When watching Washington matches, Alexander’s position on the court is striking — it practically does not change. In the sense that the Russian has noticeably slowed down in his movement. Perhaps this is a temporary situation. Or maybe Ovi, due to his age, is really no longer able to rush from side to side on every shift.
But at the same time, one cannot help but note the fact that Alexander began to work more for his partners. While Washington, among all the options for continuing the attack, in most cases tries to find Ovechkin and give him a pass for a goal, the Russian himself is increasingly trying to act as an assistant. If his partners had converted at least half of the chances created by Ovi, then Alexander would no longer have 6 assists, but twice as many. Where the Russian is really seriously inferior is in defensive play. Perhaps Ovi simply does not have enough energy and strength to choose a position and carry out work useful for his goalkeeper.
For now, the season has just begun. Not even a month has passed since its start to make it possible to draw any convincing and thorough conclusions. Washington has a series of matches ahead against very interesting opponents, both away and at home. For some reason, there is a feeling that in the near future Ovechkin will close the gap with the great Wayne Gretzky, and at the same time the level of negativity directed at the Russian sniper.