NHL EDGE stats: 8 numbers behind THE GR8 CHASE

NHL.com’s fantasy staff takes a look at eight key NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals this season during THE GR8 CHASE. After Ovechkin (891 career goals) extended his NHL record for goals in the month of April (72 in 113 games) against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, he is four goals away from passing Gretzky’s all-time NHL record (894).

1. Goals by region (left side)

Despite being limited to 58 of Washington’s 74 games this season because of a fractured fibula, Ovechkin ranks third in the NHL in goals from the left-side regions (15) of the ice; that is a combination of his totals from the left point (two), left circle (seven), left outside (four) and left net side (two) regions. That goal total is two behind forward Steven Stamkos of the Nashville Predators (17) and one behind Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine (16).

2. Shot speed

Ovechkin is among the forward leaders in top shot speed (98.96 miles per hour; tied for fourth) and average shot speed (68.26 mph; 97th percentile) and ranks second at the position in 90-plus mph shots (27) behind Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres (49); no other forward has more than 14 such shots this season. The Capitals have the third-most 90-plus mph shots (95) behind the Edmonton Oilers (124) and Tampa Bay Lightning (107).

3. Skating distance on power play

Ovechkin’s top skating distance game at all strengths this season (3.24 miles) came against the Calgary Flames on Feb. 25, 2025. His top power-play skating distance game of the season (1.30 miles against Ottawa on Jan. 30, 2025) ranks in the 97th percentile among forwards. Ovechkin (0.66) ranks second behind only the Oilers' Leon Draisaitl in goals per game (0.74), and 10 of his 38 goals have come on the power play. Ovechkin’s frequent center linemate, Dylan Strome, is among the leaders in miles skated on the power play this season (31.03; 94th percentile among forwards), as is Ovechkin’s longtime power-play defenseman John Carlson (30.28 miles; 97th percentile at position).

4. Shots on goal and goals by location

Ovechkin, despite missing time this season, ranks eighth in midrange shots on goal (97) and just outside the top 10 in midrange goals (12).

Among forwards, Ovechkin ranks tied for seventh in long-range shots on goal (35) and shares the league lead at the position with Thompson and Owen Tippett of the Philadelphia Flyers with four long-range goals, the exact same total he scored all of last season (had four in 79 games).

The Capitals are the only NHL team to rank in the top five of the League in goals from both high-danger areas (130; fourth) and midrange areas (80; fourth) this season. Ovechkin has scored 11 high-danger goals (80th percentile), further showing how impressive his season has been considering many more of his goals (27) have come from outside the high-danger regions.

5. Strome’s helping hand

Strome leads the Capitals in points (72 in 74 games), assists (48) and power-play points (28) this season and has assisted on 18 of Ovechkin’s 38 goals this season. Ovechkin’s teammates with the next-highest assist totals on his goals are Aliaksei Protas (11), followed by Carlson (six).

Strome assisted on Ovechkin's first 11 goals this season and became his second teammate to assist on 11 straight Ovechkin goals (Nicklas Backstrom also had 11 straight from April 6 to Dec. 15, 2011) and the first to do it in a single season. Backstrom has by far the most assists (279) on Ovechkin's career goals among his all-time teammates, with Carlson ranking second (156).

6. Speed and other secondary forward highlights

A big part of Washington’s surprising success, with or without Ovechkin, this season has been the depth and underlying metrics of their forward group. Here are some EDGE stats highlights of their secondary forwards, each of whom rank in the 85th percentile or better in the following categories:

Tom Wilson
Top skating speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, total skating distance, high-danger shots on goal, high-danger goals, midrange goals

Connor McMichael
20-plus mph speed bursts, high-danger shots on goal, high-danger goals

Aliaksei Protas
Top skating speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, high-danger goals, midrange goals

Pierre-Luc Dubois (acquired from Los Angeles Kings in offseason)
Top shot speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, total skating distance, high-danger shots on goal, high-danger goals, long-range goals

7. Capitals' supporting cast of defensemen, goalies

Capitals goalie Logan Thompson, who is 31-5-6 in 42 games this season and signed a six-year, $35.1 million contract on Jan. 27 after being acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in the offseason, ranks highly in both midrange save percentage (.921; third) and high-danger save percentage (.820; just outside top 10), while he is third among goalies in goal differential (plus-64) trailing only Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (plus-83) and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (plus-69). Along with backup Charlie Lindgren (.899 save percentage in 33 games), Washington's goaltending ranks tied for fifth in team save percentage (.902) and, together with Ovechkin's goal-scoring prowess at 39 years old, have the Capitals (105 points; eight games remaining) just behind the Jets (106 points; seven games remaining) in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

The offseason addition of defenseman Jakob Chychrun (acquired from Ottawa Senators; signed an eight-year, $72 million extension on March 25) and bounce-back season from Carlson have provided Ovechkin with plenty of support for his goal chase on both ends of the ice. Both defensemen have robust EDGE stats profiles, ranking in the 85th percentile or better at their position in the following categories:

Jakob Chychrun
Top skating speed, top shot speed, midrange shots on goal, midrange goals, long-range shots on goal, long-range goals

John Carlson
Top shot speed, 20-plus mph speed bursts, total skating distance, midrange shots on goal, long-range shots on goal

8. Goals above projected

NHL EDGE IQ, powered by Amazon Web Services, uses "Projected Goal Rate" (PGR) to estimate the likelihood of a shot attempt becoming a goal. The NHL average PGR this season is approximately 5.0 percent across all shot attempts.

Entering Thursday, of the 371 inference shot attempts (excluding shots greater than 60 feet, those beyond the goal line and empty-net attempts) by Ovechkin this season, his actual goal rate (7.55 percent) far exceeds his PGR (4.82 percent), given the goalie's positioning, puck movement and traffic at the time of release.

The result is Ovechkin scoring 26 goals on those 371 inference shot attempts, while he was projected to score only 17.9 times. That mark of 8.1 goals above projected (GAP) so far this season ranks eighth in the NHL among skaters in the 50th percentile and above for shot attempts. Buffalo's Thompson tops that list at 15.2 goals above projected.

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More NHL EDGE stats for WSH

Alex Ovechkin’s EDGE profile