Ovechkin's adjustments, evolution have put him on cusp of goal record

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2024-25 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher.

In this edition, former Buffalo Sabres coach Don Granato writes about Alex Ovechkin, who is five goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894 as the Washington Capitals visit the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, NESN, TVAS2, SN1).

Like most people, I didn't think Alex Ovechkin would break the record this season. His goal totals trended downward the past three seasons, from 50 to 42 to 31. Had the trend continued -- or had he scored the same as he did last season -- he'd have fallen short.

To me, what has altered that is how good the Capitals have been as a team. Our brains didn't factor in how much better Washington was going to be. After earning the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, the Capitals are second in the NHL standings this season.

That's a reason Ovechkin has 37 goals in 57 games and has a shot to break the record with nine games to go. I think everyone has contributed to putting him in this position, from the acquisitions management made over the summer (forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goalie Logan Thompson among them), to the work the coaches have done, to the performances of his teammates. I don't think he has a chance this season if all of that other stuff isn't as good as it is.

You can't key on Ovechkin as an opponent. You've got to watch the entire team. The team demands your respect, because you're trying to win the game, not just shut down Ovechkin. When teams have depth -- and scoring depth, specifically -- it's very hard to match up.

It's also been amazing to watch Ovechkin evolve and maybe turn into an even better scorer at age 39. To me, anyone who plays to his age, there are two components: a deep, deep love of the game and the intelligence to evolve themselves into a different form. In other words, he's not trying to do what he did in his 20s. He's gained wisdom, and he reads situations better, which makes him more dangerous.

If you're coaching against a guy like Nathan MacKinnon or Connor McDavid, you are strategizing against them. You are deflecting them out to one side, preventing the cutback. You're scheming, and your whole team knows it. They're dialed in to a game plan.

With Ovechkin, it's very hard to game plan right now against him, because he's not going end to end. He's letting the situation happen with the three or four other guys, and then he's ready to pounce. He's not trying to dictate it from the outset. That's the difference. Look at his assist on a goal by Dylan Strome against the Florida Panthers on March 22, when he passed from the top of the right circle for a deflection in front. It was an unbelievable play. He's never been a completely selfish goal scorer, which has made him a bigger threat all the way through his career.

He isn't just taking one-timers from the left circle, either. He's going to the net front. When he scored No. 890 against the Sabres on Sunday, it was a tip-in. I believe it's been significant that he has been an imposing player at 6-foot-3, 238 pounds, different than most super talents. His size, strength and physicality have made opponents hesitant to go after him. He made it known that he would go back after anyone who dared engage him physically, and I would not want to be the defenseman going back to retrieve a puck with him forechecking.

His shot his still lethal, though.

These are the best goalies in the world. They face hundreds of shots in practice, and they learn how to read shooters. It becomes ingrained in their subconscious. Most of the time, they know where the shooter is shooting before he does. There's no deception on the setup, the windup, the release or the follow through. But Ovechkin is different. The goalies don't see enough shots like his -- the way it comes off the stick, the velocity.

Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets is the best goalie in the world currently, and Ovechkin scored on him short-side March 25. Intuitively and instinctively, he knew where to place that puck so it would be hard for the goaltender, and then the way it comes off his stick is even harder. Maybe the goaltender thinks that shot is actually going four feet the other way. You really can't teach that.