Instead of catching up with Gretzke’s decline? This has never happened to Ovechkin in his career so far.

Alex Ovechkin falls short of Wayne Gretzke’s goal record of 72 accurate hits. He entered the season with a clear goal: to cut as much as possible from this pie and get closer to the goal record within reach.

But his form at the beginning of the year indicates rather the beginning decline of the 38-year-old Russian.

Against Ottawa, Ovechkin never had a shot on goal, and he was also without a shot in the previous meeting against Calgary. During his 19-year career in the NHL, it was the first time that “Ovi” was without a shot on goal in two consecutive games.

In the meeting with Ottawa, he had four shooting attempts, but all of them were blocked.

Nielen Ovečkin, ale celá ofenzíva Capitals má značný problém v ofenzíve, keď strelili len tri góly v úvodných troch zápasoch. “V súčasnosti sa skutočne trápime, pretože máme veľa chlapcov, ktorí na začiatku sezóny hľadajú svoju hru. Zvyčajne je ich niekoľko, ale teraz ich máme viac ako je normálne,” cituje trénera Spencera Carberyho Tarik El-Bashir z The Athletic.

Ovečkin sa zvykne v sezóne pomalšie rozbiehať, minulý rok v prvých troch zápasoch neskóroval. Napokon ukončil sezónu so 42 gólmi na konte.

Najbližšie sa predstaví proti Slafkovského Montrealu.