Alex Ovechkin has been fairly consistent throughout his career, averaging about .6 goals per game. And though he just broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record, there were a few times in the past 20 seasons when his scoring went off track. These three seasons are glaring on the goal-pace-per-season chart:
The 2010-11 Season
This is the year that the Washington Capitals hired coach Dale Hunter and started trying a trap-defense style of play. This hindered Ovi’s ability to score, as he had only 32 that season, 18 fewer than the previous season.