Alex Ovechkin’s shot at hockey’s most hallowed record is fading fast. Why?

What’s happening to Ovechkin?

On 7 December, Alex Ovechkin notched his 1,500th point of his career – an assist during a 5-4 loss to Dallas. Ovechkin is just the 16th player in NHL history, and one of only two active players, to have hit the milestone. That other player is Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby. Ovechkin and Crosby, perennial rivals since they were drafted first overall consecutively in 2004 and 2005, have tracked nearly identical points-earning paths throughout their careers, differing only in how they accumulated them. Crosby’s playmaking has given him 966 assists and 567 goals. For Ovechkin, the points combo was always the reverse of Crosby’s: 675 assists and 827 goals.

But this year, things are suddenly different.

Ovechkin, now 38, entered this season just 72 goals shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 regular-season goals. But 35 games into the regular season, that record still looks untouchable. In that time, Ovechkin has only managed to score seven goals, two of which have been on empty nets. His latest, an overtime winner against Columbus on 21 December (a classic bomb from the point) was mostly notable because it broke a 14-game goalless drought. Something’s up with Ovi – but nobody’s quite sure what.

Speaking to the Washington Post in December, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery seemed vexed about Ovi’s scoring problems, admitting that he’d tried playing Ovechkin with fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov to create a spark, but nothing happened. Even on the power play, Ovechkin has been uncharacteristically quiet, notching just one goal with the man advantage so far this season. The power play is normally where he’s at his most dangerous; he scored 14 of his 42 goals last season during one. And his overall shooting percentage is equally surprising – just 6.2% versus 14.3% last year (a figure roughly in line with the rest of his career), even though he’s on his usual shooting pace. Overall, Ovi’s a minus-9 on the season.

The team surrounding Ovechkin might have something to do with his poor performance. For instance, as the Athletic pointed out in December, the Caps’ power play doesn’t have much else going for it other than the Ovechkin option for a shot from the point, which has meant more of Ovi’s shots are anticipated and being blocked. Partly as a result, the Capitals have one of the worst power plays in the NHL. And as a team, the Caps are well below the league average in offensive zone time, shots on goal, and shooting percentage. Put like that, Ovechkin doesn’t look so bad. You could say Ovi only looks bad when compared to Ovi.

That is, unless you again consider Crosby. While Ovechkin has struggled in Washington, over in Pittsburgh, Crosby, 36, has scored 21 goals and added 17 assists (registering a 16.7% shooting percentage along the way).

On Tuesday evening, Ovi and Crosby faced off for the 67th time in the regular season since they both entered the NHL, the Penguins and Capitals tied for points. Already up on the Pens 3-0 the Caps went on the power play with under two minutes left in the first. With just 26 seconds left on the man-advantage, Ovechkin let go a wrister from the point that found its way in – his eighth of the year. Crosby would score midway through the second period and grab an assist a few minutes later, but it wasn’t enough. The 4-3 win moved the Caps to 42 points with an 18-11-6 record on the season – good enough for second wildcard spot in the East. For now, that’s the record that matters.

Top cheese: Do the Michigan

Just before Christmas, Connor Bedard and Trevor Zegras scored goals in their respective games by popping the puck onto the toe of their sticks and lifting it into the top corner of the net, over the goaltender’s shoulder – otherwise known as The Michigan.

The move is borrowed from lacrosse and has its name thanks to University of Michigan winger Mike Legg, who scored a goal using the move in a 1996 against the University of Minnesota.

But the history of the Michigan goes back slightly further. Legg first saw the move when he watched Bill Armstrong, an AHL journeyman, do it while teaching at a summer hockey school in London, Ontario. Legg was inspired and reportedly practiced it for months before trying it in the game that would make it famous. As for Armstrong, he actually managed to score four Michigan goals in his career – including one during a game just the night before Legg’s.

Bedard and Zegras aren’t the first to do the Michigan in the NHL. Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov famously managed two Michigan-style goals during the 2019-20 season, and Nashville’s Filip Forsberg also got one the same year. And Zegras’s Michigan on 23 December was his second of his NHL career; he also scored one against Montreal in early 2022.

Still, two on the same night is indeed special. But maybe we should have seen it coming.

Cup chase

As December began, the Arizona Coyotes trounced the Washington Capitals 6-0, and with the victory became the first team in NHL history to win consecutive games against five past Stanley Cup winners. Before they beat the Caps, who won the Cup in 2018, the ‘Yotes beat the Golden Knights (2023), the Lightning (2020 and 2021), the Avalanche (2022), and the Blues (2019). Arizona followed that run with four straight losses, but finished the month at .500 and occupy one Western wildcard spot. Meanwhile, atop the West, Vancouver and Winnipeg finished 2023 in fine form, both going 7-1-2 in their last 10 games of the year. And then there’s Edmonton, seemingly on the road to recovery, notching six straight wins to finish December.

Over in the Atlantic division, a familiar story is unfolding as Toronto fights two Florida teams to retain a playoff spot. More interesting is the Metro division, where the Flyers’ strong December has kept them in the race, just ahead of the Islanders, who are still getting scored on too much and in tough with Carolina. And after a rough start, the Devils are starting to climb back into it, with the Penguins also seemingly starting to find their footing.

Bottom dwellers

Thanks in large part to Bedard, the Chicago Blackhawks are one of the most entertainingly bad teams in recent memory. Chicago are, depending on the day, among the bottom three teams in the NHL, but don’t tell their fans. The team is playing to nearly sold-out home crowds every night at the United Center. An average of just over 18,800 people have watched every Blackhawks home game this season, according to data compiled by HockeyDB, which translates to 95% capacity.

Unsurprisingly, teams like the San Jose Sharks – who, after a successful few games at the beginning of December, largely returned to their poor form to finish 2023 – and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who’ve registered only 11 wins, are struggling to draw home crowds. Notably among those teams that can’t fill the building, however, is Winnipeg. The Jets are only drawing about 83% capacity at home games, or just over 12,700 per night – an issue attributed partly to pricing.

Around the hockey world

Pittsburgh When Pittsburgh native Logan Cooley was five years old, he stepped onto the ice with Sidney Crosby. Cooley was one of the first kids in the city to benefit from the Little Penguins program, devised by Crosby, that outfitted hundreds of youngsters head-to-toe in hockey gear and granted a handful of ice sessions with the Pens captain. In mid-December, Cooley, now a 19-year old center for the Coyotes, took the opening face-off against the man partially responsible for his hockey career.

Chicago As impressive as his Michigan goal was, it’s got nothing on Connor Bedard’s overall stats compared to his fellow rookies. Bedard is unquestionably the best rookie this season. He leads his peers in overall points (32), goals (15), and assists (17). He’s also had 110 shots, 21 more than the next-most prolific rookie shooter, Adam Fantilli. Even when compared to the entire league, Bedard stands out. In 5v5 situations, Bedard has 13 goals this season, tied with Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov and ahead of Sidney Crosby. Only two players, Zach Hyman and overall scoring leader Auston Matthews, have more with 14 each.

Toronto The Professional Women’s Hockey League launched on New Year’s Day with its inaugural game in Toronto that saw New York upset the home team in front of a sell-out crowd. Ella Shelton scored the league’s first-ever goal on the way to New York’s 4-0 shutout.

Next on the 72-game regular season schedule will be Montreal versus Ottawa on Friday, where a crowd of more than 7,800 is expected – another early hopeful sign that this iteration of a pro women’s league will be a lasting one.