Alex Ovechkin is in an unfamiliar rut to start the 2023-24 season.

The Washington Capitals sniper was held without a shot Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators, marking the first time in his 19-year career he's gone consecutive games without an attempt on goal, according to OptaStats.

Ovechkin was also blanked Monday against the Calgary Flames. He managed four shot attempts in his latest appearance, but all of them were blocked. The 38-year-old mustered an assist in Wednesday's 6-1 loss for his first point of the young campaign.

Ovechkin has only been held without a shot 19 times since entering the NHL in 2005-06 and has led the league in the statistic 11 times. He passed Ray Bourque (6,209) for the most shots all time last season.

The Capitals have had trouble scoring as a whole, registering only three goals through three games so far. New head coach Spencer Carbery said the team needs more out of most of its players.

"We're really struggling right now from a standpoint of we’ve got a lot of guys that are looking to find their game early in the season, and aren’t there yet," he told The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir.

"Usually, it’s a few but we’ve got more than you would call normal."

Ovechkin started last season slowly as well, going three games without a goal. He finished the year with 42 tallies and moved into second place on the all-time goals list.

His next chance to break his slump comes Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Matt and Blake discuss a 2-0 loss to Philly and Wednesday's Canucks news. Topics include: the play of Tyler Myers, Thatcher Demko as the only standout, Rick Tocchet's frustration with the effort, Conor Garland's game against Philly and trade request, poor officiating, Elias Pettersson taking a shot and missing practice, the hopeful return of Ilya Mikheyev, the penalty-kill looking good with Carson Soucy in the mix, and the acquisition of Mark Friedman.

Frank Corrado tells us a John Tortorella story about a video session on shot-blocking and provides his take on what Garland needs to do to realize a trade. He gives us a scouting report on Friedman (whom he played against), and explains why Tocchet was so angry after the game.

Chris Faber from Canucks Army & Canucks Conversation joins with his Prospect of the Week, and his take on the Friedman-Jack Rathbone trade. He recaps the loss to Philly with what went wrong. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

Follow us on social (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok & YouTube). Powered by Go Goat Sports

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winnipeg Jets forward Gabe Vilardi is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a strained MCL, head coach Rick Bowness announced Wednesday, according to the Winnipeg Free Press' Mike McIntyre.

Vilardi sustained the injury during the Jets' 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. He went down awkwardly after taking contact from Kings forward and former teammate Blake Lizotte along the boards early in the first period and didn't return to the contest.

Lizotte received a tripping penalty as a result of the play.

Vilardi joined Winnipeg in June as part of the package that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to Los Angeles. The new Jet has one assist in three games so far this campaign.

An 11th overall pick by the Kings in 2017, Vilardi spent the first four seasons of his career on the West Coast. He put up 41 goals and 78 points in 152 games with Los Angeles and enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2022-23 in which he scored 23 goals - including six game-winners - in 63 outings.

The 24-year-old signed a two-year, $6.875-million extension with the Jets as a restricted free agent in July.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It doesn't sound like Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves is the biggest fan of Chicago Blackhawks pest Corey Perry.

"I never really liked him, to be honest," Reaves said, per Sportsnet. "We always seem to kind of run into each other when we play against each other, but not a lot of love for that guy. … Just the way he runs his mouth, I don't know. He kind of acts tough. He's not tough."

The pair of veteran forwards got into it during the Maple Leafs' 4-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Monday night, jawing at each other from their respective benches throughout the contest.

The conflict between the two started when Toronto forward Noah Gregor hit Chicago defenseman Nikita Zaitsev. Gregor answered for the play in a fight with Blackhawks blue-liner Connor Murphy.

Reaves went on to give Perry a couple of less-than-friendly shoves in the middle frame.

Perry and Reaves didn't end up dropping the gloves, but if they did, it would've been the latter's third tilt in as many games as a Maple Leaf. Reaves took on Montreal Canadiens rearguard Arber Xhekaj in the season opener and followed it up with a clash against Minnesota Wild forward and former teammate Marcus Foligno.

This wasn't the first time Reaves and Perry had given each other a piece of their minds. The duo let each other have it during a contest in March 2022, when Perry was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Reaves was with the New York Rangers.

Perry did have the last laugh during Monday's showdown against the Leafs by scoring on a breakaway in the second period to give the Blackhawks the lead for good.

Toronto and Chicago will face each other for the second and final time this season on Nov. 24.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Ottawa Senators plan to have center Josh Norris back within their ranks when they take on the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, head coach D.J. Smith announced, according to TSN's Claire Hanna.

Norris last suited up for an NHL game on Jan. 21 before a shoulder injury derailed him. He was unable to participate in the Senators' preseason slate and first three games of the regular season because of an unexpected setback.

The 24-year-old was on a line with Dominik Kubalik and Drake Batherson at morning skate, per TSN 1200.

More to come.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

If this was Marc-Andre Fleury's last game in his home province, it couldn't have gone much better.

Fleury, who hails from Sorel-Tracy, Quebec (about an hour north of Montreal), made 27 saves in the Minnesota Wild's 5-2 victory over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night.

It was a vintage performance by Fleury in his first appearance of the season. He even generated chants of his name from the Montreal crowd after going into a two-pad stack to rob Johnathan Kovacevic in the third period.

Fleury also received a standing ovation after being named the first star of the game.

"Definitely special," Fleury said postgame. "I told myself before the season I want to enjoy every moment of it. I don't want to have any regrets if this is it. So I think I had a lot of fun tonight. My teammates played amazing in front of me. It was a fun win."

The 38-year-old goaltender has yet to decide on his future beyond this season. After the Wild were eliminated from the 2023 playoffs, Fleury said he'd play in 2023-24 but added, "That might be it." He'll decide at the end of the campaign.

A three-time Stanley Cup champion and 2021 Vezina Trophy winner, Fleury is a surefire Hall of Famer. His 545 wins are the third-most all-time, just seven back of surpassing Patrick Roy for second behind Martin Brodeur's 691.

Fleury is still playing at a high level. He went 24-16-4 last season with a .908 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.