Ovechkin Hits 50 Goals For The 5th Time (4/8/2014)

April 8, 2014 - The end of the 2013-14 regular season was a bit of a rough patch in Alex Ovechkin's career. While the focus would normally be on the Capitals' captain closing in on his fifth 50-goal season in just his ninth year in the NHL, the focus was instead on his effectiveness as a two-way player. Ovechkin's -35 plus/minus rating was the second-worst mark in the entire NHL. It didn't matter that the huge minus was mostly due to his teammates' abysmal 4.42 shooting percentage at even strength when he was on the ice (league average in 2013-14 was 8.14%, the NHL-worst Buffalo Sabres were at 6.14%), all that anyone saw was the glaring minus, even though he was leading the league in goals. The end of the season, in particular, was tough with the Great 8 not scoring a single even-strength goal in March to go along with a -17 rating over that stretch as the Capitals' playoff chances faded. This was the narrative as the Caps headed to St. Louis for a nationally televised game against the Blues. When Ovechkin came up on the broadcast, much of the discussion was about Ovechkin's defensive play. You can hear some of it in the video, but the rest of the broadcast had even more. One comment in particular that I didn't include in the edit came in the first period when Ovechkin flipped the puck out to center ice from the defensive zone and went for a line change along with several other players. Despite the fact that the Blues didn't even get a shot attempt as a result of the play, NBCSN's Brian Engblom called out Ovechkin's decision. Later in the period, Ovechkin would rifle home his 50th goal of the season on the power play, a power play which, ironically, he drew while backchecking, making him just the 11th player ever to score 50 goals five times. Ovechkin added assists on two Nicklas Backstrom goals to round out the night and give Capitals fans something to celebrate in a disappointing season. For as rough as 2013-14 was, Ovechkin made amends quickly with one of his best seasons ever in 2014-15, recording 53 goals and a much-improved +10 rating. Another three years later, he led the Caps to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship, and continued on to break the NHL's all-time goal-scoring record. 1st Period - 0:00 - Intro 0:33 - Picks off pass 1:08 - Backcheck and draws penalty 1:54 - Goal, 5th career 50-goal season 3:29 - Brian Engblom discusses the strange line combos Ovechkin had been paired with recently 3:50 - Dangle around Oshie 2nd Period - 4:00 - Pass to Backstrom for chance 4:07 - Backcheck 4:20 - Pass to Chimera for redirection chance 4:33 - Assist 1 3rd Period - 5:24 - Assist 2 6:21 - Shot block 6:32 - Final buzzer More classic Ovechkin games -    • Classic Ovechkin Games