With his swagger back, so is Ovi’s chase for record

Alexander Ovechkin headed into the NHL all-star break with just nine goals in 44 games. He heard the whispers: He was too old and was showing his age at 38. He would never catch Wayne Gretzky’s alltime goal-scoring record.

Then something clicked. Maybe it was a week away from hockey, spent in Dubai, maybe it was a change in the stick he had been using.

But he has been on fire lately, with 17 goals in his last 24 games heading into Thursday night’s game against the Maple Leafs. That was tied for the third-most since the all-star break behind Zach Hyman (21) and Auston Matthews (19).

“Been playing more aggressive,” Ovechkin said. “On the ice, just find the right spots.”

As for that stick, he was a free agent of sorts. CCM, which stopped using Ovechkin as a spokesperson in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, let his contract expire this season.

“I used different sticks all year, yeah,” he said. “But right now I’m sticking with one, so I’m pretty happy with it.”

Ovechkin, who had gone back and forth between CCM and Bauer, has been using a CCM brand lately and was named first star of the week by the NHL last week with seven goals in four games. His efforts helped the Capitals move into a wild-card position.

And Ovechkin has brought Gretzky’s record of 894 goals, once thought unassailable, well within his sight. He entered Thursday j. He has another two years left on his contract.

While Ovechkin was with his family in Dubai — and hanging out with former soccer star Wayne Rooney — the Capitals were doing a deep dive into his season, wondering where the offence had gone, worried that Father Time was catching up.

“I just felt like he was getting to pretty good spots,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “But whether his shot wasn’t coming off quite as clean, or guys were getting in his lane, or a guy would get a tick. He hit six crossbars in the first month. His shooting percentage was as low as it’s ever been.”

But the goals started to come, off a skate, off his body, on a deflection.

“Once he gets a few of those, he’s feeling good,” Carbery said. “Now look out. Goal scorers, when they get on a roll, and they get confident, it feels like when they get a puck anywhere off the rush or in the offensive zone, there’s a chance it goes in.

“And that’s what I’ve seen change is a confidence level, the swagger that he has now out on the ice.”

Now he looks like the Ovechkin of old, not an old Ovechkin.