Louis Blues, Thursday, Feb. Alex Ovechkin is already the career leader in power-play goals in the NHL. He also has the most empty-netters. The path to what will be goals and beyond has been full of variety. Ovechkin as his career has evolved has found different places to shoot from and more ways to beat more goaltenders than anyone else in hockey history.
He's at and 11 away from passing Gretzky. Alex Ovechkin has scored so many goals with his patented one-timer from the left faceoff circle on the power play that it became known as his spot. Just like with Gretzky, whose record of goals he is closing in on breaking, Ovechkin's brilliance comes not from one shot but rather the variety with which he has scored over his two-decade-long career.
He has the most career power-play goals and the most empty-netters and soon will pass Gretzky for tops on the overall list thanks to an evolution of his game that has seen him score from more places on the ice in his 20th season than previous years. According to NHL Edge puck and player tracking data, Ovechkin has put a shot on net from 15 of the 16 quadrants in the offensive zone and scored from 11 of them. That is a testament to Ovechkin, now 39 and scoring at a rate almost never seen at this age, adjusting to how opponents defend him and fooling goaltenders in different ways.
He has scored on a league-record goalies, adding six new ones to that list this season. For the defenders tasked with trying to contain Ovechkin, the approach changes with the situation. From his spot, everyone knows what is coming because he has scored times on the power play — 46 more than the next closest.
Ovechkin reached the goal mark again this season, the record 19th time he has done that, one of the biggest reasons the Capitals are among the top teams in the league. He has thrived alongside something linemates Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas, who have embraced the role of getting Ovechkin the puck as much as reasonably possible. I think the more shot volume the better. Ovechkin has put more shots on net than any player in league history, and the only reason he's not again in the top 10 this season is that he missed 16 games with a broken left leg.
