7 – Number of shots on goal for Alex Ovechkin over his last four games, the second-fewest of any four-game span in his career, and only the second time he’s had two or fewer shots on goal in each of four consecutive outings. Here are all of the times Ovechkin has failed to hit his jersey number in shots on goal over a four-game span during his NHL career (playoffs included):
| Date | Shots on Goal | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 11/9/2010 – 11/14/2010 | 7 (3, 2, 1, 1) | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 1/18/2012 – 2/4/2012 | 6 (1, 2, 2, 1) | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 10/18/2014 – 10/26/2014 | 7 (2, 2, 1, 2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
It is worth noting that over the past four games, Ovechkin has attempted 11 shots that have been blocked and fired another eight that missed the net and has a 61% Corsi-For percentage at five-on-five. But eight games into the season, Ovechkin sits at the lowest per-game shots on goal rate of his career (3.88).
Compounding the (still mild, hopefully) concern over Ovechkin’s shot production are a couple of moments from recent games in which Ovechkin’s hand/wrist area has taken some trauma. The more publicized of the two was a blocked shot two games ago in Calgary (which RMNB covered in detail):
But there was also a slash he took (courtesy Travis Zajac) back on the 16th, the last game before this four-game run (full video with audio at the bottom of this post):
So is Ovechkin less than 100%? Shooting? Just missing the mark? Probably some of each. Clearly this is something to keep an eye on.
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