Ovechkin optimistic about ending scoring slump

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin isn't making a big deal out of his 13-game goalless drought.

"I have chances, I have pretty good chances, but sometimes it's just a period of maybe you hold the stick too tight because you didn't score or something," he said in a recent interview with NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "But I think overall, sooner or later it's going to happen, and everything is going to go in."

With 1,375 NHL games under his belt - the second most among all active players - there's no one more familiar with Ovechkin's game than Ovechkin, but he's never been stuck in a scoring skid like this in his career.

The 38-year-old has lit the lamp just five times in 28 games this season, but it isn't for lack of trying: Ovechkin ranks 24th in the league with 104 shots and 14th in shots per game (3.71). Dating back to Nov. 22, the start of his current slump, the Russian has put up 46 shots.

He's on pace for around 15 tallies, which would be the lowest output of his career and his first time dipping below the 20-goal mark. Ovechkin managed 24 tallies in 2020-21, but that was during the pandemic-shortened campaign and he was still producing a respectable 0.53 goals per game.

Ovechkin is up to approximately 12 individual expected goals at all strengths so far this season, per Natural Stat Trick. Though the puck isn't going in for him, the veteran is contributing in other ways. He currently ranks third on the Caps with 17 points and became the 16th player in league history to hit the 1,500-point milestone in early December.

Washington is struggling to score as a whole. The team owns the NHL's third-worst goals for per game rate (2.39), as well as the worst power play, which has converted on just 9.8% of its chances.

Despite that, the Capitals sit in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and are one point outside of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 15-9-4 record.

For his part, Ovechkin is far more interested in the team's success than his individual stats.

"The most important thing is we collect the points, and we win the games," he said. "I'd rather be in a playoff spot than score 20 goals and you're out of contention."

Ovechkin ranks second all-time with 827 goals and is just 68 tallies away from passing Wayne Gretzky. The nine-time Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner is under contract for two more years after this season.