Washington Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin’s Dominance in Toronto

The Washington Capitals will be returning to NHL playoff action on August 3rd in Toronto, Ontario.

This is exciting for a number of reasons. One reason being that the NHL will be back in a big way, re-starting the season with a 24-team playoff tournament after the season was suspended in March due to COVID-19. Another being that the Washington Capitals will be playing playoff hockey this season, and therefore have a chance at winning a second Stanley Cup in three years. Another reason that I’m sure will cross few people’s minds is the fact that Alexander Ovechkin has been dominant when playing in Toronto throughout his career.

Everyone knows how good Ovechkin has been when playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but how good is he when playing in the city of Toronto? I assumed good prior to doing the research, based on the numbers against the Leafs, but I didn’t know exactly how good. I mean, I have personally seen Ovi play at Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre) three times, and in those three games he has four goals. One of those games was a hat-trick. So yes, I naturally assumed he played pretty well when in Toronto.

So, to get to the bottom of this, I looked at the game log for every season the Great 8 has played in the NHL. Once there, I searched through for all of the games that said, “@TOR” next to them, and added his points in those games to the list. This includes the Capitals’ 2017 postseason series where they played in Toronto three times, as well as the World Cup of Hockey where Team Russia played four games at the Air Canada Centre.

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Here are the results.

In 32 combined regular season, playoff and World Cup of Hockey games played in Toronto, Alex Ovechkin has:

• 27 goals
• 13 assists
• 40 points

So, Alex Ovechkin is 8 points over a point-per-game in his games played in Toronto throughout his entire hockey career.

For those wondering, Ovi has played 25 regular-season games in Toronto, and has 24 goals and 11 assists for 35 points. In this instance, he is 10 points over a point-per-game in Toronto during his regular-season career. Not too bad.

So, why does this really matter?

It doesn’t really, but it shows us that, for whatever reason, Ovechkin tends to show up when he plays in Ontario’s capital. This is a good sign for Caps fans because, as I previously mentioned, the Capitals will be playing in Toronto to start the postseason. Of course, IF (please notice my use of the word “if”) the Caps happen to make it past the second round, which has never been the easiest task for them, the games will be moved to Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta for the Conference, and Stanley Cup Finals. It just adds some sort of comfort when, as a fan, you know that arguably your most dominant player will be playing in a building where he has had plenty of success in the past.

Of course, there is no guarantee he will be more dominant just because he’s playing at the Scotiabank Arena. This is unfamiliar territory. There will be no fans in an arena where there tends to be more fans than usual to get Ovechkin hyped for a game.

Though, I also find it hard to believe that Ovi will have trouble getting hyped when there is a chance at winning a Stanley Cup on-the-line. I think that will be all the inspiration he needs to tear it up on the ice in Toronto – something he has been more than capable of doing in the past.