Alex Ovechkin Is Heating Up Just in Time for the Playoffs

It's no secret where Alex Ovechkin likes to spend his free time.

When he's not in the weight room training, hanging out with his family, or casually enjoying the fine cuisine and nightlife of Washington, DC, Ovi is hanging out at the left faceoff dot, breaking hearts and shattering dreams.

The Great 8 was at it once again on Tuesday night, ripping three identical-looking goals from his favourite spot for a hat trick in the Capitals' win over the slumping Minnesota Wild. All three tallies were on the powerplay and all looked pretty damn similar, as Ovi cradled cross-ice passes and used his ridiculous release to victimize Devan Dubnyk over, and over (and over) again.

With the trick, Ovechkin recorded his 112th career multi-goal night, giving him one more than Teemu Selanne for the most since the 1994-95 lockout. Despite going through several mini-slumps this season, including a stretch last month where he recorded just one assist in eight games, Ovechkin has found his scoring touch again lately, as the four-time defending Rocket Richard Trophy winner has 11 points, including six goals, over his past eight games, and has 33 on the season—tied for 10th in the league with fellow Russian sniper Evgeni Malkin.

For the first time in four seasons, Ovechkin won't hit 50 goals and won't lead the NHL in tallies. The 31-year-old, who has hit the half-century mark seven times in his illustrious career, including a career-high 65 in 2007-08, has never scored fewer than 32 in a season and has only come under 40 goals twice. He's been a machine (when adjusting for era, he's the greatest goal scorer in NHL history), but even in a down year 32 and counting is nothing to sneeze at.

With a Calder, six Rocket Richards, three Hart trophies, and three Pearson awards already on his résumé, Ovi has made it clear that the Stanley Cup is the last piece of hardware that he really gives a shit about. The Caps have been a dominant regular-season team over the past decade, winning two Presidents' trophies and seven division titles since 2007-08, but haven't advanced out of the second round since drafting Ovechkin No.1 overall in 2004. Despite having one of his least productive offensive seasons of his career (that's saying something for a guy who sits tenth in league scoring), Ovi is heating up at just the right time for the Caps, with five goals and eight points in his last eight games.

Washington has won six of its last seven games and sits in a familiar spot at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with another division title in its sights. If you're looking for him, Ovechkin can usually be found in his oh-so-familiar spot, too.