Is Alex Ovechkin Benefiting from the Pandemic?

Despite playing with less talent around him due to the myriad of injuries to the Capitals’ core, Alex Ovechkin is a man on a mission.

As the NHL announced their league-wide pause due to skyrocketing COVID-19, I was immediately reminded of March, 2020. As the pandemic picked up steam in 2020, from a hockey standpoint, a pressing question emerged. What does this mean for Alex Ovechkin and his race to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record? My fears were confirmed when what I thought, at the time, was impossible happened. The league suspended operations and the regular season was cut short.

"“In light of ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus, and after consulting with medical experts and convening a conference call of the Board of Governors, the National Hockey League is announcing today that it will pause the 2019-20 season beginning with tonight’s games,” Commissioner Gary Bettman explained in March of 2020."

A two-week pause to slow the spread, that’s all. That’s what we all thought, anyway. Little did we know, that almost two years later, we’d be in such an eerily similar situation.

Fast forward to present day and the pandemic continues to rage on. Over 5,300,000 people worldwide have lost their lives due to COVID-19, the pain and the disruption to everyday life is unimaginable. Thankfully, we now have highly-effective vaccines that are safe and widely available. The vaccines still provide excellent protection against severe illness and death, but as time passes from your initial inoculation protection from infection wanes. Combined with the emergence of the Omicron variant and we are in the situation that we’re in now. Over 15% of NHL players were unavailable due to COVID-19 protocols on Tuesday when the NHL paused the season. The league intends to resume play on December 27th after the Christmas break. The NHL will not be sending it’s players to the 2022 Beijing Olympics like we all hoped. Instead they will use the time in February to make up the 49 games that have already been postponed due to COVID-outbreaks across the league.

Surely, this can’t be benefiting Alex Ovechkin who has already had the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season and the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons cut into his time to chase Gretzky. But maybe, it has?

The 36-year-old is as dominant as he’s ever been. On a Washington Capitals team that has been decimated by injuries and COVID, Ovechkin has been a shining star. Ovechkin is second in the league with 22 goals and third overall in points with 47 in only 31 games. A season ago, Alex Ovechkin recorded 42 points in 45 games. While still nearly a point-per-game pace, this is nothing compared to what he’s done so far in 2021-2022. This season, he’s done it all without an effective power play. Hell, forget effective, Ovi has done this despite being a part of one the league’s worst power plays. The Capitals’ power play has been abysmal all season long, ranking fifth worst in the NHL, operating at 15.6 percent. 

Despite playing with less talent around him due to the myriad of injuries to the Capitals’ core, Alex Ovechkin is a man on a mission. The ultra-talented Russian is on-pace for 124 points which would be a career-high. If the pace continues, he’s a lock to win his third Hart Memorial Trophy and has a great chance to lead the league in overall scoring for only the second-time in his illustrious career. The last time he did that? Back in 2007-2008 when he scored 65 goals and recorded 112 points.

There’s no denying Ovechkin’s talent, he’s an all-time great player who will be a force even as he approaches 40-years-old but part of what is allowing him to have such a productive season has to be the amount of rest he’s gotten in recent years. Ovechkin, through no fault of his own, hasn’t played a full 82-game season since 2018-2019. He’s a well-rested superstar and if there’s been one hockey-related benefit to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that.

Peter Laviolette has done almost everything right this season, the Capitals just keep winning no matter who isn’t available to play. The one thing that he desperately needs to do, is fix the team’s power play. If Laviolette does that, he’s the Jack Adams Award winner and Alex Ovechkin eclipses 125 points. Even with the sputtering power play unit, the Great Eight is having a season to remember and we’re all so fortunate to be able to witness it. Look out, Jagr.