State Your Case: Ovechkin, Zibanejad one-timers

Alex Ovechkin has made it famous, or perhaps infamous if you are an NHL goalie.

The Washington Capitals forward has made a living firing one-timers from the left face-off circle, beating goalie after goalie after goalie on his way to 830 NHL goals.

Mika Zibanejad is no slouch either when it comes to the one-timer from the left circle. The New York Rangers forward has scored 282 goals, and his one-timer is a big reason the Rangers power play leads the NHL, converting at 30.1 percent.

On Saturday, Ovechkin and the Capitals will host Zibanejad and the Rangers in a nationally televised game at Capital One Arena (1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN), and each one-timer will be display.

But which one is more dangerous right now?

That's the question before NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price and staff writer Tom Gulitti in this installment of State Your Case.

Price

You can almost hear MSG Network broadcaster Sam Rosen prepare to say, “It’s a power-play goal” every time Zibanejad winds up from the left side, and that’s because his one-timer is more lethal than Ovechkin’s right now. Of Zibanejad’s 14 goals this season, five have come on one-timers -- four on the power play and one short-handed. After he finished with 91 points last season (39 goals, 52 assists), his numbers are a bit down this season (14 goals, 25 assists), but with that shot he can get hot at any time. To that end, those five goals on the one-timer came within pretty much one month (Nov. 27-Dec. 29). I don’t want to take away from Ovechkin because I’ve seen that laser of his enough to know how amazing it is, but right now, I would go with Zibanejad.

Gulitti

If you want to know how good Alex Ovechkin’s one-timer is, watch how opponents defend the Capitals power play. Most focus on simply taking away his one-timer from the left circle by committing at least one penalty-killer to guarding him. Who can blame them? Ovechkin has scored 127 of his NHL-record 302 power-play goals on one-timers from that spot, and 200 power-play goals on any kind of shot from that area. One of the reasons the Capitals power play has struggled this season is that, unlike Zibanejad, Ovechkin no longer has many scoring threats around him that penalty-killers need to worry about. That’s made it more difficult to get his one-timer off cleanly, and goalies usually see it coming when he does. As a result, Ovechkin has yet to score a power-play goal on a one-timer this season (he scored on one shortly after a power play expired) and Washington has started moving him around to different spots. His nine power-play assists (two fewer than his total last season) demonstrate that he’s had to become more of a passer. But if the Capitals were able to find ways to get him more clean shooting looks, you’d see he still has one of the best one-timers in the NHL.

Price

Tom, you are making my argument for me. Listen, there is no question Ovechkin’s one-timer is legendary and is a big reason he will be a Hockey Hall of Famer and possibly pass Wayne Gretzky for the most goals of all time, but he has struggled this season to get that shot off simply because the Capitals power play, especially without Nicklas Backstrom, is not a five-man threat. The Rangers, on the other hand, have arguably the most talented five-man group in the NHL on their first power-play unit with Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox. Of the Rangers’ 37 power-play goals this season, those five are responsible for 33 of them. Teams can’t just focus on Zibanejad, and because of that, when he does get a chance to unleash that wicked one-timer, he usually gets it on net, in the net or off the post. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s 30, eight years younger that Ovechkin. Again, Ovechkin’s one-timer will go down in League lore, but right now, If I had to pick which one I’d want on my side, it’s Zibanejad’s.

Gulitti

I understand your reasoning, Bill, but if we’re talking simply about each player’s one-timer in a vacuum, as good as Zibanejad’s is, I’d still take Ovechkin’s as the bigger threat. If Ovechkin and Zibanejad switched teams and Ovechkin was in Zibanejad’s spot on the Rangers power play, I think he would have at least five power-play goals (he has three). Of course, it helps that Zibanejad is younger, but even at 38, I think Ovechkin would be able to bury as many one-timers if he was given the same time and space as Zibanejad. He has a 19-season NHL record to back that up. At least the Rangers put Zibanejad back in the one-timer spot on their power play this season after not using him there following the acquisitions of Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko before the NHL Trade Deadline last season. I’m guessing they never would’ve moved Ovechkin out of that spot.