Alex Ovechkin's 38 Goals In 2011-12 (HD)

While his 38 goals might not say it, 2011-12 was the season Alex Ovechkin got back to being the Alex Ovechkin we all know. Like 2010-11, the season started off well, then plunged downhill quickly. A decent 5 goals in his first 9 games gave way to an abysmal 4 in his next 20. It took him 30 games to score 10 goals, and didn't score his first goal at home until November 25th (his 11th home game). During this rough patch, the Capitals also struggled after a 7-0 start. Head coach Bruce Boudreau, who played an important role in making the Capitals an elite team again, was fired on November 28th. His replacement was then London Knights head coach Dale Hunter. Ovechkin and the Capitals went from Boudreau's high octane offensive style where they were already struggling to score, to Hunter's "block shots and hope the goalies play well" defensive style. At first everything was just the same for Ovi, only 4 goals in the first 13 games. But then, probably because he's just one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the game, Ovechkin started finding his scoring touch again. After scoring twice in each of the last 2 games of 2011, he recorded 4 in January, 6 in February, 10 in March (his first 10+ goal month since October 2009), and 2 in April for a total of 26 in his final 43 games (a 49-goal pace) 3rd most in the NHL during that span. After being on pace for only 27 goals 33 games into the season, he almost hit 40 (and very likely would have had he not missed 4 games). Ovechkin finished 5th in goals, his 6th career top-5 finish. Shots finally started going in for Ovi, for despite finishing with *only* 303 shots and not leading the league for the first time in his career, his shooting percentage went up from a lowly 8.7% to around his career average of 12.5%. Ovechkin's resurgence likely kept the Capitals from missing the playoffs that year, and they enjoyed arguably their best playoff run as the 7th seed, defeating the defending champion Bruins in 7 games and taking the #1 seed Rangers to a 7th game. Not many analysts or "experts" paid attention to the Great 8's hot end to the season, dismissing it as a lucky hot streak if they were even aware of it. In a season of turmoil, Ovechkin had managed to end on a positive note, even if most people didn't notice.

1 - October 10, 2011 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins - 0:01
2 - October 20, 2011 vs. Philadelphia Flyers - 0:55
3 - October 20, 2011 vs. Philadelphia Flyers - 1:06
4 - October 29, 2011 vs. Vancouver Canucks - 1:37
5 - October 29, 2011 vs. Vancouver Canucks - 2:05
6 - November 5, 2011 vs. New York Islanders - 2:54
7 - November 11, 2011 vs. New Jersey Devils - 3:20
8 - November 25, 2011 vs. New York Rangers - 3:51 - First home goal
9 - December 7, 2011 vs. Ottawa Senators - 4:25*
10 - December 15, 2011 vs. Winnipeg Jets - 5:09
11 - December 20, 2011 vs. Nashville Predators - 5:30
12 - December 26, 2011 vs. Buffalo Sabres - 6:03
13 - December 30, 2011 vs. Buffalo Sabres - 6:35
14 - December 30, 2011 vs. Buffalo Sabres - 7:05
15 - December 31, 2011 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 7:37
16 - December 31, 2011 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 8:09
17 - January 3, 2012 vs. Calgary Flames - 8:46
18 - January 13, 2012 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 9:26
19 - January 18, 2012 vs. Montreal Canadiens - 10:09
20 - January 22, 2012 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins - 10:42
21 - February 7, 2012 vs. Florida Panthers - 11:18
22 - February 7, 2012 vs. Florida Panthers - 11:56
23 - February 9, 2012 vs. Winnipeg Jets - 12:17
24 - February 17, 2012 vs. Florida Panthers - 13:08
25 - February 24, 2012 vs. Montreal Canadiens - 13:42
26 - February 28, 2012 vs. New York Islanders - 14:09
27 - March 8, 2012 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 14:41
28 - March 13, 2012 vs. New York Islanders - 15:24
29 - March 13, 2012 vs. New York Islanders - 15:58
30 - March 18, 2012 vs. Chicago Blackhawks - 16:27* - Between the legs dangle around Duncan Keith
31 - March 19, 2012 vs. Detroit Red Wings - 17:08
32 - March 19, 2012 vs. Detroit Red Wings - 17:41
33 - March 22, 2012 vs. Philadelphia Flyers - 18:18
34 - March 23, 2012 vs. Winnipeg Jets - 18:47
35 - March 23, 2012 vs. Winnipeg Jets - 19:13
36 - March 25, 2012 vs. Minnesota Wild - 19:38 - First 5 game goal streak in 2 years, belly pat celebration
37 - April 5, 2012 vs. Florida Panthers - 20:13
38 - April 7, 2012 vs. New York Rangers - 20:28

* - Highlight reel goal

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