Stuck at 899 goals, Alex Ovechkin admits he’s ‘a little struggling’

Alex Ovechkin remains on the precipice of becoming the first NHL player to reach 900 goals – a position he’s been in for a week and a half.

Ovechkin scored his second goal of the season on Oct. 24 to bring his career total to 899 but has been held off the scoresheet entirely in each of the past four games as he continues to look for his historic goal.

Having been through slumps before, the 40-year-old Capitals star said Monday he won’t be making any major changes in hopes of sparking his game.

“Yeah, a little struggling,” Ovechkin admitted of his play, per NHL.com. “But overall, we just have to stick to the plan and keep working and eventually you will score.”

The Great 8 defied the odds last season to post 44 goals in 65 games and overtake Wayne Gretzky (894) for No. 1 on the league’s all-time goals list. He missed 16 games during the year with a fractured leg, but he never went more than three games without a goal. He’s in the midst of his second four-game goal drought of the year already this season.

Ovechkin admitted that missing time in the preseason with a lower-body injury may be having an impact on his output, which stands at two goals and seven points through 12 games.

“Of course, it [stinks] when in training camp you try to get in shape and you miss the ice, you miss off-ice workouts,” Ovechkin said. “But right now, you just have to catch your timing and, obviously, you don’t have to think about it much. As soon as you start thinking about, ‘Well, you scored two goals in 12 games,’ or whatever, you’re just going to put pressure on yourself. You don’t have to do it. You just have to go out there and do as much as you can and the best that you can for your team.”

With Ovechkin struggling, the Capitals have jumped out to an uneven 6-5-1 start, a steep drop from their blazing 9-3-0 start in the first 12 games last season. Washington finished first in the Eastern Conference with a 51-22-9 record.

The Capitals and Ovechkin will look to get back on track Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues, who are off to a 4-7-2 start.