Ovechkin more relaxed after winning Stanley Cup, excelling for Capitals

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Watching Alex Ovechkin during his NHL career-best 14-game point streak, two things stand out to his longtime Washington Capitals sidekick Nicklas Backstrom.

The first one is the obvious.
"He scores on more of the chances," Backstrom said.
The second is obvious to Backstrom because he's experiencing it, too.
"He's just letting it loose right now after winning last year," Backstrom said.
If you ever wondered how winning the Stanley Cup would change Ovechkin, you're seeing it now.
Fairly or unfairly, Ovechkin often bore the brunt of the Capitals' Stanley Cup Playoff disappointments when they weren't able to advance past the second round in his first 12 NHL seasons. Having shed that weight by leading Washington to its first championship last season, Ovechkin is playing with unbridled joy.

And he's racking up goals and points in the process.
Ovechkin has 23 points (17 goals, six assists) during his point streak and also scored goals in six straight games (10 goals) heading into the Capitals' showdown with the rival Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS). That's one game short of the longest goal streak of his career, which the he set as a rookie in 2005-06 (eight goals in seven games from Feb. 10-March 8, 2006).
The 33-year-old forward leads the NHL with 29 goals and leads the Capitals with 43 points in 32 games, putting him on pace to finish with 74 goals and 110 points. His NHL career-highs are 65 goals and 112 points in 2007-08.
"I think to finally have [won] is definitely a burden that's been lifted from him," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said "I think it's worked in another way as well in that he got a good taste of all the things that go along with it and I think he likes it, so he's going after it again."
Although aware of his point and goal streaks, Ovechkin shrugs them off as more a product of good fortune.
"Of course, you want to have points as many as you can, but like I said before, you can't score every game," Ovechkin said. "You can't make points every night. The League is so hard right now, if you get a point or you get a goal you [need] luck."
Obviously, Ovechkin has more than luck on his side. He also has perhaps the best shot in the League and has been particularly lethal with it of late.
He was selected as the NHL's First Star of the Week for the period ending Dec. 16 after getting hat tricks in consecutive games against the Detroit Red Wings (a 6-2 victory on Dec. 11) and the Carolina Hurricanes (a 6-5 shootout win Friday) before scoring a single goal in a 4-3 shootout win against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

With his next goal, Ovechkin will become the second NHL player to score at least 30 goals in his first 14 seasons, joining Mike Gartner, who did it in his first 15 seasons. Should he maintain his shooting percentage of 22.4, it would be by far the best of his NHL career, surpassing his high of 14.6 from 2007-08.
"It's great to see," Backstrom said. "He's got that confidence. It's fun to watch because you know the puck is going to go in every night."
During the game against Buffalo on Saturday, the crowd at Capital One Arena began to cheer any time Ovechkin was near the puck in the offensive zone in anticipation that he might score another goal.
"That was like back in the days when he scored 65 goals (in 2007-08)," Backstrom said. "Back then, when he got the puck at the defensive blue line, that's when people started cheering thinking he might score."
That was Backstrom's rookie season. He and Ovechkin have been through a lot together in the 11 seasons since then.
Winning the Cup last season was the pinnacle, but it hasn't satisfied either.
"We still have pressure on ourselves and high expectations of ourselves," said Backstrom, whose 40 points (10 goals, 30 assists) are second on the Capitals. "But, I don't know, it just took away a little stress that everyone has inside of you. I think that's something that's been in the back of our heads for a long time and now we're able to just relax and play hockey and, hopefully, do it again."
That's worked well so far for Ovechkin and the Capitals (20-9-3), who have won five in a row and are in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 43 points. Ovechkin is three games away from matching Gartner's Capitals' point streak record of 17 games (Oct. 13-Nov. 21, 1984 and Feb. 6-April 4, 1981).
He's already the seventh player age 33 or older with a point streak of at least 14 games, joining Adam Oates (20 games in 1996-97), Gordie Howe (16 games in 1962-63 and 14 games in 1963-64), Luc Robitaille (15 games in 1999-2000), Wayne Gretzky (15 games in 1996-97), Chris Chelios (15 games in 1995-96) and Marcel Dionne (14 games in 1984-85).
Ovechkin admitted he's a little surprised that he's put together the longest point streak of his career in his 14th season.
"Yeah, [but] what can I say?" he said. "I just try to my best."
In the past, Ovechkin best wasn't good enough for some, who often reminded him that he hadn't won the Stanley Cup. That qualifier is forever gone, and it appears to have freed him.
"He's putting together a phenomenal year and, hopefully, it's just the start of things to come for him," Reirden said. "He's put the work in this year and the results are following in line, as are our team results."