Ovie hits 55: Can He Hit 60?

When Alex Ovechkin sent his 55th goal of the season past Ryan Miller in the first period of Friday night's game, one single thought went through my mind as my fists flew into the air in celebration.

Can he hit 60 again?

Standing just five goals shy of another 60 goal season, Ovechkin has only four games to reach the 60 goal milestone for the second time in his career.

The four teams standing in his way are all divisional opponents, a group that he has scored only 15 goals of his 55 against. So breaking it down team-by-team, here's how Ovechkin has fared against his upcoming opponents in terms of scoring goals.

Teams	Games Played	Goals	Goals per game
Atlanta	4	3	.75
Tampa Bay	5	6	1.2
Florida	5	4	.8

Mathematically speaking: We can expect one goal from Ovechkin in two games against the Thrashers, one goal in his one game against the Lightning, and nothing against the Panthers.

This gives Ovechkin a grand total of 57 on the season, just three shy of the 60 mark. Not too shabby.

Okay, statistics are great and all, but game logs can tell a different story. So let's break down Ovechkin's game-by game performances against each team.

Team	Date	Goals	W/L
Atlanta	10-10-2008	0	L
Atlanta	11-26-2008	3	W
Atlanta	02-26-2009	0	W
Atlanta	03-16-2009	0	L
Tampa Bay	11-10-2008	1	W
Tampa Bay	01-01-2009	1	W
Tampa Bay	02-14-2009	1	W
Tampa Bay	03-19-2009	1	W
Tampa Bay	03-27-2009	2	W
Florida	12-02-2008	0	L
Florida	02-07-2009	0	W
Florida	02-15-2009	3	W
Florida	03-01-2009	1	L
Florida	03-19-2009	0	W

That paints a completely different picture than the simple averages do. Ovechkin has had six goalless games against upcoming Southeast Division opponents of the 14 games played this season against them. Unfortunately for Alex, he only gets to play the Lightning once.

Ovechkin is currently on a four-game goal scoring streak. His longest goal scoring streak of the season was five games in which he scored six goals. Ovechkin must have at least one multi-goal game down the stretch for 60 to become a reality.

It's improbable, but that's what they said about the Caps run to the playoffs last year, and that alone should make you a believer.

But even if Ovechkin falls short by two or three goals, there's a major accomplishment that Hart Trophy voters should be aware of.

Just to give you some perspective about how good Ovechkin has been this season, no player in Capitals history has achieved 60 goals in back-to-back seasons, or let alone, come within five goals of another 60 goal season until Ovechkin did it last night.

The only other 60 goal scorer in Caps history, Dennis Maruk, never came close to repeating 60 in his career. Maruk hit 50 the year before his 60 goal campaign and that's the closest the team has had to a 60 repeater in his NHL career.

M-V-P indeed.