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The Noon Countdown: Alex Ovechkin's Even Strength

Counting down the days until the 2014-15 season with a look at the captain's prolific scoring touch at even strength

By Becca H
Rob Carr

27 - Number of days remaining until the Caps open the 2014-15 season. But it's also...

...the number of goals scored at even strength by Alex Ovechkin in 2013-14, over half of his total for the season. Only Max Pacioretty and Jamie Benn (both 28), Phil Kessel (29) and Corey Perry (35) had more even-strength tallies than Ovechkin, and only 38 players in the NHL had as many or more goals total.

It also accounted for the second-lowest percentage of total goals he's scored in a single season at just under 53%, beating out last year's even 50%. Here's a look at even-strength vs. total goals in his career:

Season G ESG % of Total
2013-14 51 27 52.94
2012-13 32 16 50.00
2011-12 38 25 65.79
2010-11 32 25 78.13
2009-10 50 37 74.00
2008-09 56 36 64.29
2007-08 65 43 66.15
2006-07 46 30 65.22
2005-06 52 28 53.85

Of course, that Ovechkin managed to score so many goals at evens while still racking up a plus-minus of -35 is pretty impressive... and a reminder that not only is plus-minus a pretty flawed stat, but other people occasionally need to score, too.