NHL EDGE stats: 8 numbers behind Ovechkin's GR8 CHASE

NHL.com’s fantasy staff takes a look at eight key NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals during THE GR8 CHASE. Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal against the New York Islanders on Sunday to surpass Wayne Gretzky (894) for the most goals in NHL history.

1. Goals by region (left side)

Despite being limited to 61 of Washington’s 77 games this season because of a fractured fibula, Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals from the left-side regions (18) of the ice; that's a combination of his totals from the left point (two), left circle (nine; including record-breaking goal), left outside (five) and left net side (two) regions. Ovechkin's left-side goal total is one more than Steven Stamkos of the Nashville Predators and Patrik Laine of the Montreal Canadiens (17 each).

2. Shot speed

Ovechkin is among the forward leaders in top shot speed (98.96 miles per hour; tied for fourth) and average shot speed (67.94 mph; 97th percentile) this season and ranks second at the position in 90-plus mph shots (27) behind Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres (51); no other forward has more than 15 such shots this season. The Capitals have the third-most 90-plus mph shots (99) behind the Edmonton Oilers (131) and Tampa Bay Lightning (111).

Ovechkin's record-breaking goal at 7:26 of the second period on the power play against the Islanders -- the same club Gretzky scored his 894th and final goal against in 1999 -- on Sunday reached a speed of 85.79 mph.

3. Skating distance on power play

Ovechkin’s top skating distance game at all strengths this season (3.24 miles) came against the Calgary Flames on Feb. 25, 2025. His top power-play skating distance game of the season (1.30 miles against Ottawa on Jan. 30, 2025) ranks in the 97th percentile among forwards. Ovechkin (0.69) ranks second behind Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl in goals per game (0.73) this season, and 13 of his 42 goals have come on the power play. Ovechkin’s frequent center linemate Dylan Strome is among the leaders in miles skated on the power play this season (32.52; 95th percentile among forwards), as is Ovechkin’s longtime power-play defenseman John Carlson (31.68 miles; 97th percentile at position).

4. Shots on goal and goals by location

Ovechkin, despite missing time this season, ranks eighth in midrange shots on goal (102) and tied for ninth in midrange goals (14). Among forwards, Ovechkin ranks tied for sixth in long-range shots on goal (36) and is tied with Thompson and Owen Tippett of the Philadelphia Flyers for the NHL lead at the position with four long-range goals (in 61 games), the same total he had in 79 games last season.

The Capitals are the only NHL team to rank in the top five of the League in goals from both high-danger areas (133; fourth) and midrange areas (83; tied for fourth) this season. Ovechkin has scored 12 high-danger goals (84th percentile), further showing how impressive his season has been considering many more of his goals (30) have come from outside the high-danger regions.

5. Strome’s helping hand

Strome leads the Capitals in points (76 in 77 games), assists (51) and power-play points (31) this season and has assisted on 21 of Ovechkin’s 42 goals this season. Ovechkin’s teammates with the next-highest assist totals on his goals are Aliaksei Protas (11), followed by Carlson (eight).

Strome assisted on Ovechkin's first 11 goals this season and became his second teammate to assist on 11 straight Ovechkin goals (Nicklas Backstrom also had 11 straight from April 6 to Dec. 15, 2011) and the first to do it in a single season. Backstrom has by far the most assists (279) on Ovechkin's career goals among his all-time teammates, with Carlson ranking second (158).

6. Speed and other secondary forward highlights

A big part of Washington’s surprising success, with or without Ovechkin, this season has been the depth and underlying metrics of their forward group. Here are some EDGE stats highlights of their secondary forwards, each of whom rank in the 85th percentile or better at the position in the following categories:

Tom Wilson
• Top skating speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, total skating distance, high-danger shots on goal, high-danger goals and midrange goals

Connor McMichael
• 20-plus mph speed bursts, high-danger shots on goal and high-danger goals

Aliaksei Protas
• Top skating speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, high-danger goals and midrange goals

Pierre-Luc Dubois (acquired from Los Angeles Kings in offseason)
• Top shot speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, total skating distance, high-danger shots on goal, high-danger goals and long-range goals

7. Capitals' supporting cast of defensemen, goalies

Capitals goalie Logan Thompson, who is 31-6-6 in 43 games this season and signed a six-year, $35.1 million contract on Jan. 27 after being acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in the offseason, ranks highly in both midrange save percentage (.912; tied for fifth) and high-danger save percentage (.822; just outside top 10), while he is third among goalies in goal differential (plus-61) trailing only Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (plus-79) and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (plus-71). Along with backup Charlie Lindgren (.896 save percentage in 36 games), Washington's goaltending ranks 10th in team save percentage (.900) and, together with Ovechkin's goal-scoring prowess at 39 years old, have the Capitals (107 points) just behind the Jets (108 points) in the race for the Presidents' Trophy, with each team having five games remaining in their respective regular seasons.

The offseason addition of defenseman Jakob Chychrun (acquired from Ottawa Senators; signed an eight-year, $72 million extension on March 25) and bounce-back season from Carlson have provided Ovechkin with plenty of support for his goal chase on both ends of the ice. Both defensemen have robust EDGE stats profiles, ranking in the 85th percentile or better at the position in the following categories:

Jakob Chychrun
• Top shot speed, midrange shots on goal, midrange goals, long-range shots on goal and long-range goals

John Carlson
• Top shot speed, total skating distance, high-danger shots on goal, midrange shots on goal, midrange goals and long-range shots on goal

8. Goals above projected

NHL EDGE IQ, powered by Amazon Web Services, uses "Projected Goal Rate" (PGR) to estimate the likelihood of a shot attempt becoming a goal. The NHL average PGR this season is approximately 5.0 percent across all shot attempts.

Among the 401 inference shot attempts (excluding shots greater than 60 feet, those beyond the goal line and empty-net attempts) by Ovechkin this season entering April 4, his actual goal rate (6.98 percent) far exceeds his PGR (4.85 percent), given the goalie's positioning, puck movement and traffic at the time of release.

The result is Ovechkin scoring 28 goals on those 401 inference shot attempts, while he was projected to score only 19.4 times. That mark of 8.6 goals above projected (GAP) so far this season ranks ninth in the NHL among skaters who are in the 50th percentile and above of shot attempts. Buffalo's Thompson leads that list at 17.6 goals above projected.

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More NHL EDGE stats for WSH

Alex Ovechkin’s EDGE profile