Guess Who's Back!

Alex Ovechkin salutes the home crowd after a win. (Via csnwashigton.com)

If you're waking up Sunday morning and checking out stats from around the NHL, you'll see a familiar face on top of the Rocket Richard trophy race. With another goal last night in a 6-5 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, star Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin moved past Steven Stamkos to take sole possession of first place in goals. Ladies and Gentlemen, heeeeee's baaaaack!

It wasn't long ago when one of the dominating topic in Washington, and around the NHL, was: what's wrong with Ovi? The man who had put up 50 or more goals in 3 of his first 4 NHL campaigns had seen his production slide, and he's team's Stanley Cup hopes slide along with it. As Ovechkin goes, so do the Caps. Some were even going so far as to say that they should trade their Captain, who has a $9.5 salary cap hit until 2021. As recently as March 12, Ovechkin only had 8 goals in 21 games, and the Captials found themselves outside the playoffs looking up at Winnipeg leading the Southeast division. But in the 17 games since then, he has been absolutely on fire, recording 18 goals and propelling the Caps to their rightful place as first in the division. 

Indeed, Ovi. But what's changed? To learn that, we need to go back a few years. During the 2009-2010 season the Caps were on top of the NHL, winning the president's trophy, but were eliminated in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens. In the next season, the Caps against won the east, but this time were swept by the Lightning in the second round. During this time a decision was made in Washington that coach Bruce Boudreau should employ a more defensive strategy in an attempt to make the Caps into more than just a great regular season team and finally find success in the playoffs. It didn't work. Ovechkin dropped to seasons of 32 and 38 goals, far below his normal pace, and Boudreau was fired. Replacement Dale Hunter did little better and the Caps were again ousted in the second round. 

Enter Adam Oates, a coach brought in with a fabulous record of offensive success as a player in the NHL (6th all-time in assists), and one thought to be able to wake up Ovi from his 2 year slumber. At the beginning of the season, the change seemed to be making little difference, but as Ovechkin and the team adjusted to Oates' systems, the goals started to come. And boy, are they coming. Ovechkin is now on pace for 53 goals over a full NHL season and seems primed to take his place back amongst the greatest currently in the game. Not only is this fantastic news for the Caps and their fans, Gary Bettman and the NHL PR department must be loving to see one of the faces of the league back up where he belongs. Whether Oates and Ovechkin can finally lead the Caps to playoff success however, we'll just have to wait and see.

Snap Shots:

• Another thing that hockey fans should be surprised to read this morning: the Detroit Red Wings sitting outside the playoff picture. Dallas won their 5th straight to move past the Wings into 8th and now control their own playoff destiny. The Wings are gonna need a little luck if they want to make the playoffs for a 22nd straight year.
• A scary incident in that same Caps/Bolts game last night, as Tampa's Nate Thompson had his visor shattered from a shot of the stick off Mike Green. Luckily he escaped a very serious injury with just a cut and was able to continue the game. Is any more evidence really needed as to why visors must be mandatory?
• And congrats to Yale, who won their first NCAA national championship last night with a 4-0 win over  Quinnipiac. Even though they backed their way into the tournament on the final day, they proved to be the better team in the end.
• Please comment and share if you like the content here at WAAP. The gif of the day is this sick backhand by Jakub Kindl: