Is This the End of the Alex Ovechkin Era in Washington?

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The Washington Capitals got embarrassed by the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs as they were swept in four games. Coming into the series as the final wildcard team, the Capitals knew that their star players had to step up if they even wanted a shot at taking down a juggernaut New York team. The person that they team was relying on, was Alex Ovechkin, who finished the series with zero points.

Ovechkin is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He is 42 goals away from becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in NHL history, and will probably do it assuming he plays another season or two. However, his playoff performance against the Rangers this year was maybe the worst of his 19 year career.

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While Ovechkin had zero points in four games, that can be attributed to the lack of shots on goal that he had. As he might still be one of the best goal scorers in the league, he only had five shots against New York’s goaltender, Igor Shesterkin. Truth be told, Ovechkin really didn’t do anything in the playoffs. To add to his lack of shooting and scoring, he seemed very unmotivated throughout the entirety of the series. Compare that to his Stanley Cup run in 2018, and it is a completely different player. That could be age catching up to him, as he is 38-years-old, or it could hint at the fact that his intense play is slowly diminishing.

While this is a big problem with Ovechkin’s play, some credit has to be given to the Rangers. They knew going into this game that Ovechkin was the number one player on the Capitals, and that he will kill your team on the power play if you give him the chance. New York played impeccable defense against him, and their penalty kill was dominant throughout the four games; leading to Ovechkin being a non-factor.

This probably won’t be Ovechkin’s last time on the ice, mainly because he still wants to break Gretzky’s goal scoring record. Nevertheless, it still begs the question of if this series marked the end of the Ovechkin era in Washington. That’s not to say that the Capitals won’t be a successful team going forward, but perhaps this is the downfall of a team led by Ovechkin; the same team the won the cup just six years ago.

Regardless of how close he is to breaking a record and cementing himself as one of the best of all time, nobody can deny that his playoff showing this season was woeful. Ovechkin might still be on the team for a few more seasons, but his impact as the team’s leader might just be done.