Alex Ovechkin hit a career milestone against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night that he probably is not a fan of. The Great Eight played just 13:49 of total ice time in the 2-1 victory, the lowest amount he has played in a single, non-injury/ejection game in his storied 19-season NHL career.
The new career-low tops the previous mark he had set under head coach Glen Hanlon all the way back in his rookie 2005-06 season. In just his fifth career NHL game, Ovechkin skated just 13:53 in a 7-2 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Ovechkin has played less time in five other games in his career but there have been extenuating circumstances in each of those games.
- 0:39 – May 3, 2021 against New York Rangers due to lower-body injury
- 3:08 – November 30, 2009 against Carolina Hurricanes due to ejection for hit on Tim Gleason
- 4:50 – March 14, 2010 against Chicago Blackhawks due to ejection for hit on Brian Campbell
- 7:43 – November 1, 2009 against Columbus Blue Jackets due to upper-body injury
- 9:33 – December 2, 2006 against Buffalo Sabres due to ejection for hit on Daniel Briere
There are a couple of potential reasons for why Ovechkin played so little against the Kings. The first being that the Capitals did not draw a single penalty so they never went on a power play. Ovechkin is one of just two players in the league this season to average over five minutes of power play time on ice per game (5:02).
Ovechkin obviously also does not play on the team’s penalty kill so all of his ice time came at five-on-five. He is playing on average 15:01 of even strength ice time per game this season which is not too far away from the 13:49 he played in LA.
Another reason could be that head coach Spencer Carbery sensed that Ovechkin’s line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson was entirely ineffective on the night. With Ovechkin on the ice in those minutes, the Capitals saw heavily negative differentials in shot attempts (-16), scoring chances (-9), and high-danger chances (-4).
The Capitals are also playing back-to-back nights on the road in another timezone. They’ll get right back on the ice Thursday night in Anaheim.
Whatever the case, it’s not easy to ignore that Ovechkin is having the worst start to a season in his career. Through 19 games, he has just 12 points (5g, 7a) and is without a point or goal in his last four outings.
If he does not increase his scoring pace, he’s headed for a 21-goal, 51-point season if he plays in all 82 games. Both of those totals would be far and away the lowest of his career if you do not take into account the pandemic shortened 2020-21 season where he amassed 24 goals and 42 total points in just 45 games.
Ovechkin’s start to the season is starting to raise concerns about his chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. If he does not turn things around and just maintains his current pace, he would need to sign another contract to take down The Great One.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
