Due to my Frozen Four coverage in Boston this weekend, I didn’t have time to get around to this month’s installment until after it ended, which is why this is coming out slightly later than the usual eighth of each month. There will be a full-season wrap up in May.
By Joe Pohoryles
Just 10 games remain in the 2021-22 regular season, but Alex Ovechkin (and the Capitals for that matter) are just picking up steam. Three straight wins against playoff teams Tampa, Pittsburgh and Boston have the Capitals hot at the right time, and Ovechkin having a goal in each game puts him in the same place.
With 45 goals in 70 games, Ovechkin now has 775 for his career, needing just 27 to pass Gordie Howe for second on the all-time list. That won’t come until next season, so for now we can gather a pretty good idea of how many goals he will end this season with.
A red-hot start to the season all the way back in October and November gave way to a bit of a lull midseason, as to be expected. Now, with the finish line approaching, Ovi is scoring at a high rate again. He scored 11 goals in the past 15 games since the last installment, which is .733 goals per game.
If he keeps that pace up, which is conceivable given there’s only 10 games left, he will end the year with 52 goals, which would be his highest single-season total since 2014-15 (53).
If we go a little more conservatively and use his entire season’s average to make a projection (.643), he will wind up with 51. Even 50 exactly will require him to score once every other game, and if any multi-goal games lie ahead, that would bump up the expected finish line even more.
We can reasonably expect Ovi to finish between 50-52, which would mark three more NHL records for the Great Eight. Teemu Selanne currently has the most goals scored in a player’s age 36 season, with 48. With just four more goals over the next 10 games, Ovi will add that record to his growing list.
Additionally, if Ovechkin does reach 50, he would become the oldest player to ever score 50 goals in a season. Longtime Boston Bruin Johnny Bucyk scored 51 in his age 35 season in 1970-71, and Jaromir Jagr scored 54 with the Rangers in 2005-06 at 33.
Finally, and this one may not be the most impressive, but it’s worth noting: If Ovechkin scores one more empty net goal it will mark his 10th of the season, which would pass Pavel Bure’s record of nine in a single-season from 1999-00.
Even if you think empty net goals soften the argument towards Ovechkin’s goal-scoring ability, Wayne Gretzky’s 56 career empty netters are the most in NHL history. Ovechkin scored his 48th career empty netter yesterday, so even if he passes the Great One in that all-time category as well, it’s obvious that both relied on ENG’s for a slight boost to their all-time numbers.
The Capitals have more important goals on the horizon, but as the regular season winds down and the annual pause on the all-time goals chase commences, keeps those handful of records in mind.
Cover Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports
The Wildcard 