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Winning another Stanley Cup or did Alex Ovechkin become the greatest scorer of all time?
If you asked Washington Capitals fans what was most likely to happen this season, most would have chosen the latter. And yet, after winning five straight games, Washington currently has the fifth-best record in the NHL. Meanwhile, Ovechkin has scored just twice in six games, including one in an empty net.
Ovechkin will need to score 40 more times in the next 74 games to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record for career goals.
Considering he only scored 31 goals last year, that probably won’t happen. At least, not this season.
But what appears to be happening is that the Capitals will be a playoff team again. Given the way they have started the season, they look like they could be a dark horse to win the Stanley Cup. And it comes in what might be Ovechkin’s worst offensive year in the NHL.
It’s as if there is an inverse relationship between his personal success and the success of the team.
Two years ago, Ovechkin scored 42 goals for a Washington team that missed the playoffs. Last year, he scored just 31 goals — his lowest total in a season where he played more than 45 games — and the Capitals were a wild-card team.
So far this season, it looks like it will be another playoff series. Following a sweeping a series at home With the Flyers on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Capitals are 5-1-0 for the first time since 2015-16. And while Ovechkin struggled to find the back of the net, it’s not like Washington struggled to score goals.
Check out the takeaways from tonight’s Capitals game from Kevin Bartechko, my guest writer for tonight and someone I’m proud to call a friend:https://t.co/SQNovjkCSv
– Sammi Silber 🏒 (@sammisilber) October 24, 2024
While the team has the third-worst power play (9.5 percent success rate), Washington is tied for third most goals per game (4.33).
Every line contributes. Tom Wilson has five goals in six games. Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael each have three goals. Backrows Nic Dowd and Taylor Raddysh scored two goals each, while fourthrow Andrew Mangiapane scored two goals.
“They made a huge difference in a lot of different areas,” coach Spencer Carbery told reporters. “So they deserve a lot of credit, the guys that came in kind of fit in perfectly and played and learned the things that we’re trying to do offensively with the puck. So, that’s it, and the other part for me is our leadership group and our veteran players coaching them and showing them and setting the tone and talking about what we need to do.
This is Washington’s most balanced offense since drafting Ovechkin.
“He’s a smart player… He’s the type of player who does everything.”
Connor McMichael has 8 points in 6 games so far with the Capitals, going from a young rising player to a top-6 impact player seemingly overnight. More on the #ALLCAPS hot start from the front: https://t.co/lgXNK4ltAN
– Sammi Silber 🏒 (@sammisilber) October 24, 2024
Ovechkin remains the focal point of the team. But at the age of 39, there will come a time when it will no longer be possible to focus only on Ovechkin. As it seems, that moment has come much sooner than we thought.
Unlike the Pittsburgh Penguins, who still rely on Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to lead the offense, the Capitals have already found a way to bridge the gap between the past and the future.
The best example is McMichaela 23-year-old who ranks second on the team with eight points in six games. Combine that with the contributions of several players drafted last summer – Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, Mangiapane, Raddysh and goaltender Logan Thompson – and it appears the Capitals may well avoid the rebuild they have so postponed. long.
In doing so, they could also give Ovechkin another Stanley Cup ring.
Related: NHL Power Rankings: Time to Show the New No. 1 Team Some Respect
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