It's been a challenging season for the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin so far. And with each stretch of goalless play, his chances of catching the “Great One” Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals in a career diminishes.
Ovechkin was on a six-game point streak before suffering a lower-body injury against the Seattle Kraken on January 11th. Returning to the lineup on Thursday, Ovi notched an assist in his return against the St. Louis Blues, while admitting there was some rust to shake off.
“I feel pretty good. Obviously, first couple touches was kind of weird, but I kind of dust it off my shoulders and feel the puck, feel the game, feel the rhythm,” he said after the Capitals' 5-2 win, courtesy of The Hockey News' Sammi Silber.
Ovechkin ended the night with over 15 minutes of ice time and a +1 rating, with three shots. What he didn't get was a goal, his fifth straight game without potting one.
Ovechkin chasing Gretzky, fighting Father Time
For a long period of time, the question felt like “when” and not “if” Ovechkin was going to catch Gretzky's goal mark. But in 40 games this season, Ovi has scored just eight goals.
Gretzky finished his NHL career with 894 goals. As it stands, Ovechkin has 830. At his usual pace, that 64-goal gap would represent a little over a season's worth of output from the Capitals captain.
But if this 2023-24 season represents a permanent slowdown for his scoring pace, Ovechkin seems likely to fall short in his pursuit.
The difficulty that Ovechkin says far less about him, a 38-year old finally showing signs of aging, than it does about Gretzky, and just how consistently excellent he was for so many seasons.
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