Ovechkin held shotless in consecutive games for 1st time in career

Alex Ovechkin is in an unfamiliar rut to start the 2023-24 season.

The Washington Capitals sniper was held without a shot Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators, marking the first time in his 19-year career he's gone consecutive games without an attempt on goal, according to OptaStats.

Ovechkin was also blanked Monday against the Calgary Flames. He managed four shot attempts in his latest appearance, but all of them were blocked. The 38-year-old mustered an assist in Wednesday's 6-1 loss for his first point of the young campaign.

Ovechkin has only been held without a shot 19 times since entering the NHL in 2005-06 and has led the league in the statistic 11 times. He passed Ray Bourque (6,209) for the most shots all time last season.

The Capitals have had trouble scoring as a whole, registering only three goals through three games. New head coach Spencer Carbery said the team needs more out of most of its players.

"We're really struggling right now from a standpoint of we've got a lot of guys that are looking to find their game early in the season and aren't there yet," he told The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir.

"Usually, it's a few but we've got more than you would call normal."

Ovechkin also started last season slowly, going three games without a goal. He finished the year with 42 tallies and moved into second place on the all-time goals list.

His next chance to break his slump comes Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.