TWO 50-GOAL SCORERS SQUARE OFF
Alex Ovechkin falls out of bed and scores 50 — eight times since he came into the league.
Leon Draisaitl woke up last year and suddenly hockey’s best passer hit 50, too.
Maybe it’s only a one-off for Draisaitl, as it was for Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry.
But Thursday, we get A Tale of Two Fifties.
Ovechkin, who just turned
34, beat the Edmonton Oilers left-winger, who turns 24 on Sunday, by a single tally (51) in the goal-scoring race last year.
Draisaitl has six goals (on 35 shots) this season and Ovechkin has seven (on 50 shots). Ovechkin is closing in on Luc Robitaille (668) for 11th all-time in career NHL goals, three back at 665. Ovechkin could surpass Teemu Selanne (684) by Christmas and Mario Lemieux (690), Steve Yzerman (692) and Mark Messier (694) before the season ends.
Draisaitl is an unabashed Ovechkin fan and loves how, and how often, he scores.
“Absolutely I admire him.
It’s incredible, he does it every single year. Obviously he has an off-year, but an off-year for him is 40. Scoring 40 in this league is very hard to do,” said Draisaitl. “Growing up you watch guys like Ovechkin on Youtube, all those goals. Even last year being in the race with him was pretty cool.”
If Ovechkin feels any heat to get 50, Draisaitl doesn’t see it.
“He’s done it for so many years. I don’t know if it’s pressure for him. We know he’s going to score his goals. That’s just a fact,” said Draisaitl.
Of Ovechkin’s 665 goals, 218 have come on the power play.
“Everybody tries to cover him, but they have other guys who can make you pay. They put a couple of pucks at the net, they get a couple of recoveries and it takes just one second if a guy is beat by a pass and it’s up and over to Ovie. He just doesn’t miss very often,” said Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk.
“There’s a ton of velocity on it (his shot) and he knows where to put it. Doesn’t seem to matter where the puck winds up (after a pass) because he’s got such a wide range where he can hit it. Most of the time he’s going for low corner. He’s not trying to go under the elbow, it’s halfway up the net. He knows if a goalie is on his way over that’s such a tough place to get to for the shot. He gets it there over and over.”
Draisaitl marvels at Ovechkin’s accuracy.
“He’s a pure shooter. He’s out there to shoot and put it in the net. Everyone knows it’s coming from that one spot (power play) and he still puts it in,” he said.
Dubnyk sees some of Ovie in Draisaitl.
“Leon is the same in that when the puck comes to him he’s not missing the net very often,” said Dubnyk. “He’s got that big paddle and that gives him that range because the puck doesn’t have to be in the perfect spot. He’s a big, strong kid and you’re often concentrating on Mcdavid. One of them is going to make you pay.”
Draisaitl might have been able to hide before on the power play, but not now.
“I can feel it pretty tight around the box when I’m in there. I sense that,” he said.
Oilers coach Dave Tippett used to check shooters in his playing days, so he knows a scorer when he sees one and 50 will forever be a feat to him.
“It’s even more special now because it’s harder to score. In the mid ’80s and early ’90s, the league was more wide open and there were more of them (50goal scorers). Now, it’s so hard to get there,” said Tippett. “You have to have a consistency in how you play now. Take Ovechkin. He scores on the power play, he’s a shooter, I mean he’s at the top of the league in shots taken every year.
“There is a knack to scoring goals and it’s not just picking corners. It’s shooting it quick, shooting it hard. It’s a talent. As they always say, if it was so easy, everybody would be doing it.”
Maybe last year’s 50 will be a one-off for Draisaitl. He scored his 50 last year on only 231 shots, and that shooting percentage (21.6) might not be sustainable.
But, his shot is wickedly hard coming off that huge blade.
Still, he’s not a shoot-first guy. He is a sweet passer, incredibly accurate on his backhand.
“I should probably shoot more on two-on-ones,” said Draisaitl. “But, sometimes it’s nice to get a nice assist.”