Alexander Ovechkin still has just one goal through 14 games, and the concern around the Capitals captain is growing fast.
Last night in Dallas the Capitals lost 5-6 to the Stars, and Ovechkin finished without a point. He logged 17:26 and put two shots on goal.
His line for the season reads 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points, with a -1 rating. For a player who has spent two decades as the NHL's most reliable shooter, those are strange numbers to type.
The power play usually carries him. This year it hasn't: he has no power-play goals and no power-play assists.
Dave McCarthy noted that Ovechkin remains with one goal through 14 games.
That one sentence says plenty on its own. A single goal in that span puts him far off the pace set by a career that includes 930 goals in 1587 games.
Is Ovechkin's contract year starting to weigh on Washington?
He is 41, the first overall pick of the 2004 draft, and he is playing on a contract that runs through 2026-27 and expires with him as an unrestricted free agent. Every cold night now gets read through that lens.
The sheet lists no injury, so there is no health explanation to lean on. Whatever is behind the slump, it isn't something the injury report is flagging.
Some will point to the shot count, and two shots in a one-goal loss isn't nothing. But the puck isn't going in, and a player of his stature isn't judged on near misses.
The Capitals can survive a few quiet weeks from a veteran. Staying quiet for a whole season is a different matter. Ovechkin has too much history for this to be written off as noise, and too little goal production right now for anyone to call it fine.
Washington's lines and special teams will face questions if the drought carries into the next homestand. Ovechkin's next chance to answer comes in the Capitals' next game, and the scrutiny won't wait for it.
Should the Capitals cut Ovechkin's minutes if the goal drought continues?
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