"I honestly don't think anything bugs him. You'd think, but I couldn't notice one instance where I've seen frustration," Spencer Carbery said of the Capitals captain.
Alex Ovechkin currently finds himself in unfamiliar territory to open the 2023-24 campaign, as he's gone four straight games without a goal while also failing to generate a shot in two of those four outings. While that, along with the Washington Capitals' 1-2-1 start to the season, can take a heavy toll, the captain isn't letting it get to him.
Ovechkin has remained calm and collected when it comes to being held off the scoresheet, and while he's eager to get on the board, it's not stressing the captain out.
"I honestly don't think anything bugs him. You'd think, but I couldn't notice one instance where I've seen frustration or him getting a little bit pressing," head coach Spencer Carbery said.
The 38-year-old, who sits 73 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record, was last in this situation over a decade ago. He started off the shortened 2012-13 season without a goal in the first four games of the year and then had 32 goals in his final 44 games to secure the Rocket Richard.
"He'll get his shots, he'll get his goals," Nicklas Backstrom also noted back in Montreal.
Ovechkin believes that the 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens was the team's — and his — strongest game yet. Ovechkin had an assist in the loss and quite a few chances and also led his team with five shots on goal.
"The chances we generate through all those three periods, it was a good sign," Ovechkin said.
"He was getting a ton of opportunities getting in more of those spots that you traditionally see him in. They haven’t gone in for him, but it’s only a matter of time. If he keeps getting himself in those spots, they’ll go in for him," Carbery added.
That said, he believes he can build on that performance and start to find the scoresheet, and when it comes to how he's feeling to open the season, he said he's "getting there," and reiterated that it's still taking time to adjust to the new systems. But ultimately, he's confident he'll find the back of the net, and hopefully for him, that's sooner rather than later with his team needing a spark.
"I have to do my job, I have to do my best... right now we still learning [the new systems] and it's a learning process."