Still scoring, Alex Ovechkin is undecided on his NHL future - ESPN

Alex Ovechkin is still scoring. That's the part that gives everyone around the Washington Capitals' captain pause, wondering whether it really could be his final lap in the NHL.

In the final stretch of the season, as the Capitals slipped — first wobbling, then falling perhaps too far out of the Eastern Conference race after trading away key players at the trade deadline — Ovechkin went in the other direction. A seven-goal burst over seven games in late March made it feel as if Ovechkin might drag the Capitals back in.

«He's taken it to another level,» Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. «You've noticed an uptick in his game. The thing that I watch for is the physicality. He's getting way more involved, two or three big hits a game where he's running through people and he's scoring a little bit, this is kind of his time of the year where he feels like, 'All right, it's playoff time.'»

Even though Ovechkin doesn't cover as much ice with his skating — his slower, more laborious strides have been noticeable, especially this season — his will remains consistent.

«When he scores one, he wants another one,» longtime teammate Tom Wilson said. «When he scores two, he wants three.»

Ovechkin has been, and remains, the pulse of his team in his 21st NHL season.

«For our whole group, it's a weird feeling. It's like they feel like if O can score, you get this confidence from our whole group, we're going to find a way to win,» Carbery said. «If O scores, we're winning this hockey game.»

The numbers say one thing. The calendar says another.

Ovechkin is 40. His contract — a five-year, $47.5 million deal he signed in July 2021 — expires this summer. Fans already are treating games like they might be the last.

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