The 2013-14 season was pretty brutal for Alex Ovechkin.
As the brightest star representing Russia with home-ice advantage in the 2014 Winter Olympics, Ovechkin’s group experienced crushing disappointment by failing to even nab a medal. His NHL season was ugly in its own right: the Washington Capitals failed to make the playoffs and cleaned out its front office.
So far, the Barry Trotz experiment has been pretty successful. The Capitals are 4-2-2 while holding opponents to 19 goals in eight games.
Still, Ovechkin’s in a slump right now as well, which is probably another reason why he notes that he needs to get better: