Every time it looks like Alex Ovechkins goal scoring is starting to fade, he picks it up and finds another level. The33 goals scored last season by the Capitals captain were the second-lowest mark hes had in a full season throughout his career, but unlike in2010-11with 32 goals, last season wasnt driven entirely by a low shooting percentage. In 2010-11,Ovechkin scored on just 8.7 percentof his shots on goal, a huge change from his career average of 12.4 percent. Last season, he was below his career average as well, but 10.5 percentisnt that big William Eklund Jersey of an outlier, and Ovechkins scoring chance numbers had dropped, which explains some of the reduction in finishing. MORE: The main reason his goals dropped relative to the year before was that his shot volume dropped by over a shot per game. This season, his shot production has recovered so far, and hes gone from being twopercent below his career average in shooting percentage to twopercent above it. That change has Justin Bailey Jersey him on pace for 54 goals, which would be his highest mark since 2008-09 when he scored 56. That would be incredible if it were to happen at all, since it would be the most goals any player has scored since Steven Stamkospotted60 in 2010-11. But for Ovechkin to do it at 32 years old would be incredible. Only four players in NHL history have hit the 50-goal mark at age 32 or older, according to HockeyReference.com. Bobby Hull scored 50 in 78 gamesat age 33 (1971-72), Johnny Bucyk scored 51 in 78 gamesat age 35 (1970-71), Jaromir Jagr scored 54 goals in 82 gamesat age 33 (2005-06), and Phil Esposito scored 61 goals in 78 gamesat age 32 (1974-75). MORE: Thats an elite cla s of players, but if Ovechkin were to accomplish this feat in todays era, how would it stack up to those seasons? Adjusting goal totals for the era players played in is fairly simple: You just take the average number of goals scored per game in each year, and adjust it to six. That means if one year the average NHL game included 5.5 goals, one goal that season would be worth 1.09 goals adjusted for era. We can also adjust everyones games played to 82, to put everyone on an even playing field. The biggest adjustment was applied to Esposito, whose amazing season fellin a year where the NHL averaged 6.86 goals per game, but he scored so many goals that hes still the owner of the most impre sive goal-scoring season for a player 32 or older in Marc-edouard Vlasic Jersey NHL history. BERKSHIRE: Despite the uptick in scoring this season, if Ovechkin maintains his current pace, it would be the second-most impre sive era-adjusted goal-scoring season ever. The question thenis whether Ovechkin can maintain that pace. The biggest change for him this season is at five-on-five, where hes already matched last seasons goal total of 14 after just 35 games. Looking at Ovechkins shot quality using data from Natural Stat Trick over the last 11 seasons, a few things jump out. The first is that he used to shoot from further out when he was younger, and that last season was significantly worse in terms of scoring chances than his average performance. This season, Ovechkin is producing the second-most high-danger scoring Filip Zadina Jersey chances at five-on-fiveof his career, bested only by the 2015-16 season, where he hit 50 goals in dramatic fashion with a hat trick in his final regular season game. MORE: This year, hes also producing more scoring chances overall than that season, his third-highest mark over the last 11 seasons, which compensates a bit for his slightly lower volume of shots than career average. What is somewhat worrying is that Ovechkin is shooting le s off the rush than he has in any season since 2007-08. But at the same time, you can look at that season and shrug since he scored 65 goals anyway. What makes Ovechkin amazing isnt just his bread-and-butter goals the one-timer from the top of the circles on thepower play, and the toe drag quick release off the rush through a defenders skates its that hes able to continually reinvent ways he finds the back of the net. Whether its a dirty dangle or just bowling players over in the Barclay Goodrow Jersey crease to tap in a loose puck, Ovechkin is always hungry for goals. And when you put 350 or more shots on net every year with a release as lethal as his, youre going to score a lot. Ive long been of the opinion that Ovechkin is the greatest pure goal scorer that the game of hockey has ever seen, and if he manages to hit 50 once again after so many people, including myself, believed he was beyond that after last season, it just further cements his status as the best of the best.