Alex Ovechkin has achieved many incredible milestones in his career. Sunday, after the Capitals’ lost 4-2 to the New York Rangers in Game 4 and were swept out of the playoffs, he achieved a less fun one.
Ovechkin went pointless for an entire playoff series for the first time in his career. His previous lowest output also came against the Rangers, a two-point total (1g, 1a) in seven games during the 2013 playoffs.
“We just didn’t score – our line didn’t score lots of goals,” Ovechkin said Sunday. “Blame on me, I didn’t play well so it’s suck that we end up like that.”
Ovechkin finished with just five shots on goal through the four games. The Capitals weren’t bad with him on the ice at five-on-five, seeing 55.3 percent of the shot attempts, 53.6 percent of the expected goals, 53.5 percent of the scoring chances, and 56.3 percent of the high-danger chances.
The lack of production despite good process results led some to believe Ovechkin may be nursing an injury but he claimed to be fully healthy postgame. Instead, he gave credit to how the Rangers defended him and his line.
“We tried to find a way, but I don’t think we stuck in the offensive zone a lot and if we are over there, it’s kind of like they just throw it back in the neutral zone and we have to go back and back and forth, back and forth,” Ovechkin said. “It kind of was a frustrating game, but it’s the playoffs.”
The Capitals’ ineffectiveness on their power play was another factor contributing against Ovechkin’s offensive output. After ending the season on a high, the man-advantage unit managed just two goals on a league-high 17 opportunities.
Ovechkin, who ended the regular season averaging 1.4 power play shots per game, managed just two in the four-game series. The Capitals, as a team, only tested Igor Shesterkin 14 total times while up a man.
“I don’t know,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t have that kind of touches. I try to find a different way to put the puck in. But we just finished the game, so I have to think about it and see what’s happening and think about what happened.”
He added, “We didn’t shoot the puck too much. But how I said, we just finished the series. I have to think about my game and overall.”
After a fruitless postseason, Ovechkin is stuck at 15th all-time in playoff goals (72). His next goal would tie him with Joe Pavelski and Dino Ciccarelli for the 13th-best total. He is seven goals shy of Jean Beliveau (79) for a spot in the top 10.
The legendary Russian winger has two more years left on the extension he signed with Washington in 2021.
