It's panic time for Alex Ovechkin, struggling Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are in a bit of a rut to start the 2023–24 regular season.

Alex Ovechkin’s club has yet to win in regulation through three games, narrowly defeating the Calgary Flames in a shootout and being beaten soundly by both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators. Ovechkin himself has been held without a shot in back-to-back games for the first time in his NHL career.

The Caps already won the Stanley Cup with Ovechkin back in 2018, but they’re nowhere near that level right now. Ovechkin has three years left on his $9.5M AAV contract and remains 75 goals back of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record of 894.

What’s going on in Washington? Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli broke it down on Thursday’s episode of "Daily Faceoff Live."

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Washington Capitals, Frank — I was also in the ‘Wait and See’ camp on them, and I ended up not putting them in a playoff spot in my preseason predictions. I’m feeling pretty good about that because they look very slow right now. This looks like a team that’s nowhere near competing for a playoff spot, and it’s kind of exemplified in the Ovechkin struggles. Zero shots in his last two games, Frank. That was the first time in Ovi’s career he’s been held without a shot in back-to-back games. Before this stretch, the last time he was held shot-less was Nov. 11 of 2021. Ovi is struggling, the Caps are struggling, and I’m not sure if there’s a fix.

Frank Seravalli: I’m not sure there’s a fix longer term if you’re thinking the whole 82-game season. Especially with how you mentioned how slow they look. Brian MacLellan, their GM, was sort of hinting at the end of last season, the lack of pace, especially when it comes to someone like Nicklas Backstrom, who you see way further down the lineup for the Caps. Look, this is a team that has been stuck in this sort of, ‘Hey, are we going to try to be competitive, or are we rebuilding? What exactly are we doing?’ They’re stuck in neutral. And I see this team sort of destined for an 82-to-85-point season. Definitely not up to their standards. It’s such an incredible stat for Alex Ovechkin, 1,350 games in his NHL career and this is the first time he went without a shot on goal in two consecutive games. If he’s not shooting, he’s not scoring, what’s he doing for you? It’s never really been a question to this point because all he does is shoot and score. So, if that part of their team, the engine, the motor, isn’t going, it’s probably going to be some pretty tough sledding for the Caps moving forward.

Watch the full episode here …