One thing that became abundantly clear during the Rangers’ first-round NHL playoffs sweep over the Capitals is that Alex Ovechkin’s best days are behind him.
The 38-year-old did not record a point in any of the four games, the first time he went point-less in a playoff series in his career, and while it seems time for the Caps to rebuild, Ovechkin still has eyes on making multiple more playoff runs.
“I hope I’m still going to get a couple chances,” Ovechkin said after Sunday’s game, according to the Associated Press.
Perhaps Ovechkin is intent on breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time regular-season goals record of 894; the winger has 853 career goals after scoring 31 this season.
It’s very likely Ovechkin would be able to score 42 goals over two seasons, but the three-time Hart Trophy winner, who led the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup title in 2018, no longer seems like a player who can carry a team to a championship.
Ovechkin did not record a shot on goal in Sunday’s loss, the second time in the four-game series he was held without a shot on goal.
Before this series, that only happened to Ovechkin three times over his previous 147 playoff games.
“I didn’t play well,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t have that kind of touches. I try to find a different way to put the puck in.”
The Capitals were sellers at the trade deadline, sending Anthony Mantha to the Golden Knights, Joel Edmundson to the Maple Leafs and Evgeny Kuznetsov to the Hurricanes, all for a bundle of draft picks.
But Washington won four of its final five games, including its last three, to sneak into the playoffs as the second wild-card team after missing the playoffs last year.
While they gave the Rangers fits at times, Ovechkin and the Capitals never looked like threats to oust the Blueshirts.
“He’s been doing it for so long,” Rangers center Vincent Trocheck said of Ovechkin. “He’s arguably one of the best, if not the best, goal-scorers of all-time and you have to pay a little bit more attention to him on the penalty kill. And that can’t be easy for him. Obviously we’re extremely focused on him, so it’s no shot at him. He’s a great hockey player, and we’re just a little bit extra focused on him.”
The Capitals have not won a playoff series since that 2018 Cup victory.
