Alex Ovechkin's Struggles Raise Questions for Washington Capitals Forward

The last week has been a terrible one for the Washington Capitals.  A shootout loss to the hated Philadelphia Flyers, and a pair of 5-0 blowouts to the Devils and Thrashers have the Capitals in the midst of a three-game losing skid.  The more troubling part of these losses is the virtual non-factor that superstar Alexander Ovechkin has been, which is happening far too often these days.

In fact, Ovechkin has been off his game offensively for quite some time.  Last season, going into the Olympic break, Ovechkin was leading the league in virtually all offensive categories, and scoring at a torrid pace.  However, after the break, his offensive touch was seemingly M.I.A for the rest of the season, scoring just eight times in his last 18 games, a far cry from the 42 goals he scored in the season's first 54 games.  

This season, Ovechkin's goal struggles have continued.  While Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby have become the league's top snipers, Ovechkin has managed just 10 goals in 22 games, giving him 18 goals in his last 40 regular season contests.  

Projecting that rate over a full season, Ovechkin is a 35-to-40 goal scorer, which is a big difference from the 50-to-60 goal scorer we've become accustomed to.  

More troublesome than the dip in his goal totals is the decrease in Ovechkin's shots on goal totals.  Currently, Ovechkin is shooting less than he has at any other point in his career, and therefore is scoring less.  While his assist totals are up, his goal and point totals are far off his usual pace.  

The discussion regarding the consensus best player in the NHL at one point involved primarily two names, Ovechkin and Crosby, but that may be changing.  With Stamkos running away with the Rocket Richard Trophy race, and Ovechkin sitting 10 points behind in the Art Ross Trophy race already, is it becoming Stamkos, Crosby and Ovechkin?  I believe that's the case.

Ovechkin's numbers aren't misleading either.  He hasn't been the best offensive player on his team this season; Alexander Semin has taken care of that.  

With the team in this skid, seemingly searching for a team identity, the Caps need their captain to pick up some of the slack.  So far, he doesn't seem too alarmed.  

After a 5-0 loss to New Jersey on Monday night, Ovechkin and Semin were seen joking around and laughing with Devils star (and Team Russia teammate) Ilya Kovalchuk, which drew the ire of coach Bruce Boudreau.  

Ovechkin needs to display better leadership during times like these, and realize that as the team's captain, he needs to put more thought into his actions.  As a player, he clearly has to right the ship and get back to being the offensive dynamo fans have become accustomed to, if the Capitals are to survive.