Power Outage: Washington Capitals Stars Struggling to Find the Net in DC

As the Washington Capitals endured the worst winless streak since the beginning of the 'Alexander Ovechkin era', their star players all suffered through frustrating personal slumps that contributed to the team's problems.  

At the forefront is captain and superstar winger Alex Ovechkin, who is struggling like never before in his career.  He has no goals in his last seven games and just two in his last ten, but what's more troubling is how long this slump has plagued Ovechkin. Currently on pace for a career low 27 goals, Ovechkin has scored just 21 goals since the 2010 Olympic break in February, illustrating how far back this problem traces.  

Ovechkin's drought has been highlighted by the HBO series 24/7 and he has been forced to watch Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos take the league by storm offensively. While he hasn't been alone in his struggles, he is the heart of the Capitals' team and the team needs him to find his game.  

Making matters worse, the engine that drives the offense, Nicklas Backstrom, has been missing in action for most of the season.  On pace for his lowest point total since his rookie season, Backstrom hasn't looked like the dominant centerman he was during his 100 point campaign in 2009-10.  Backstrom and Ovechkin's timing has looked off and they have yet to find the chemistry they once had this season.

Even as the Capitals broke out of their eight game winless skid with two victories over struggling teams, Ovechkin, Backstrom and Alexander Semin were noticeably absent from the scoresheets.  They've won off of contributions from unlikely heroes like Mathieu Perreault, Andrew Gordon and Jay Beagle, but that will have to change if the Capitals are to return to their perch at the top of the standings.  

Coach Bruce Boudreau needs to find a way to ignite the fire within Ovechkin and the security of his job may depend on it.