Will Crosby catch Ovechkin in points by the end of the season? (Part II)

[illpucks]

First thread
Will Crosby catch Ovechkin in points by the end of the season?

Now Crosby has 44 pts in 37, 1.19 ppg, 17 P in last 10 games (Remaining Games: 33)
Now Ovi has 60 pts in 48, 1.25 ppg, 7 P in last 10 games (Remaining Games: 32)

Click to read more...

 

[Regal]

No, but close. 84 for Sid, 90 for Ovechkin

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

No but it will be close enough that all the ov fans can eat crow about how ovechkin has surpassed crosby in all time rankings

 

[TheGuiminator]

Yes (bold prediction)

Will also finish with higher ppg and better Hart finish

 

[SillyRabbit]

No but it will be close enough that all the ov fans can eat crow about how ovechkin has surpassed crosby in all time rankings

Yeah there were a lot of opportunistic takes when Ovechkin had his hot start and Crosby was injured.

If Crosby ends up having the better season those takes are going to look even worse than they already do.

 

[wetcoast]

Yeah there were a lot of opportunistic takes when Ovechkin had his hot start and Crosby was injured.

If Crosby ends up having the better season those takes are going to look even worse than they already do.

What do you mean "if", he is already having the better season even if Ovi has more points.

Ovi had the hot start but Crosby has arguably been the best forward in the NHL since December 1st

NHL Stats

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Highly unlikely, not enough time left. Unless Ovechkin misses significant time, it won't happen.

 

[bobholly39]

What do you mean "if", he is already having the better season even if Ovi has more points.

Ovi had the hot start but Crosby has arguably been the best forward in the NHL since December 1st

NHL Stats

He's 13th in points per game in that stretch. 27th in goals.

I think Crosby is having a really strong season, and is especially doing good after he had a bad start his first few games after injury, but in what world is he 'the best forward in the NHL since Dec 1st'.

 

[Peat]

He's 13th in points per game in that stretch. 27th in goals.

I think Crosby is having a really strong season, and is especially doing good after he had a bad start his first few games after injury, but in what world is he 'the best forward in the NHL since Dec 1st'.

The ppg gap is fairly minimal between him and most other guys in the top 15, and he's got the whole play C + responsible defence thing over most of them. Since the poster you're quoting said arguably the best forward in the NHL since Dec 1st, not that he straight up is, I'm not sure that one is all that contentious. It's probably Auston Matthews, but an argument for Sid is fair.


Anyway, to answer OP question, probably not. Assuming Sid keeps up his post-injury hit rate for the rest of the season and stays healthy, he's hitting 89 points. That means Ovechkin just has to get 30 in 32, which seems safe.

 

[Miro4Norris]

He's 13th in points per game in that stretch. 27th in goals.

I think Crosby is having a really strong season, and is especially doing good after he had a bad start his first few games after injury, but in what world is he 'the best forward in the NHL since Dec 1st'.

Arguably the best forward, but at least the best center after his bad first 8 games while he was recovering. Second most points in the league after Huberdeau and Pens sucked before he came back, since then they've had most wins after AVS I think

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Think Crosby will be back in hart contention next season and I smell a run at the cup this year...

 

[Caps8112]

based off the first thread the op listed Ovi has maintained the lead he had from the first poll. Crosby is on fire right now while ovi has been in a bad patch while the caps seem to be having the wheels fall off. Its possible because of how good crosby is when he is on but I voted no.

 

[bobholly39]

The ppg gap is fairly minimal between him and most other guys in the top 15, and he's got the whole play C + responsible defence thing over most of them. Since the poster you're quoting said arguably the best forward in the NHL since Dec 1st, not that he straight up is, I'm not sure that one is all that contentious. It's probably Auston Matthews, but an argument for Sid is fair.


Anyway, to answer OP question, probably not. Assuming Sid keeps up his post-injury hit rate for the rest of the season and stays healthy, he's hitting 89 points. That means Ovechkin just has to get 30 in 32, which seems safe.

Arguably the best forward, but at least the best center after his bad first 8 games while he was recovering. Second most points in the league after Huberdeau and Pens sucked before he came back, since then they've had most wins after AVS I think

It's not arguable though - not even for just centers.
Sam Reinhart as a center has more points per game than Crosby since Dec 1st in only a couple of less games. Are you also going to say 'he's arguably the best forward in the league'?

It's just such a huge stretch. Matthews as a center has 22 goals in 23 games, more points and more points per game. Huberdeau. etc

It's fine to appreciate Crosby's great season without making such extreme exaggerations.

 

[bobholly39]

Think Crosby will be back in hart contention next season and I smell a run at the cup this year...

I'm arguing in this thread that Crosby hasn't been the best forward in the league so far this season, but I think he actually looks good for hart contention this season.

He came back from covid/injured and didn't play well and they lost first 3 games. At that point Pens were 25th in league in points percentage, 13th in the East.

But since then, since Nov 18th, Pens are:

25-5-4, 2nd only behind Colorado in NHL. first in goals against, 3rd or so in offense. And Crosby has great individual stats too. In terms of being 'valuable to your team' and helping them turn their season around, I think he could be in contention by year end. Especially if he can keep up his pace all year long.

 

[Peat]

It's not arguable though - not even for just centers.
Sam Reinhart as a center has more points per game than Crosby since Dec 1st in only a couple of less games. Are you also going to say 'he's arguably the best forward in the league'?

It's just such a huge stretch. Matthews as a center has 22 goals in 23 games, more points and more points per game. Huberdeau. etc

It's fine to appreciate Crosby's great season without making such extreme exaggerations.

And how many games has Reinhart played as a 1C, given he's played only three less games than Barkov?

Huberdeau, at a guess, doesn't draw the same heat Sid does as I imagine Barkov's line gets it. Etc.etc.

If you judge solely by points per game, then I guess it is a huge stretch. Personally I think it's a huge stretch to judge best player off of points per game alone.

edit: Conversely, I don't think he's anywhere near the Hart, as it's basically impossible to be there when you were a non-factor for about 15 games.

 

[Miro4Norris]

It's not arguable though - not even for just centers.
Sam Reinhart as a center has more points per game than Crosby since Dec 1st in only a couple of less games. Are you also going to say 'he's arguably the best forward in the league'?

It's just such a huge stretch. Matthews as a center has 22 goals in 23 games, more points and more points per game. Huberdeau. etc

It's fine to appreciate Crosby's great season without making such extreme exaggerations.

Ok but since when has Reinhart been center? Maybe watch games not just statistics. And he also has worse ppg after Sid's first 8 games so weird take. Matthews has nice stats but too bad that Matthews on the ice means about as many goals to the opponent than for his line.

 

[Phil Kessels Hot Dog]

Thought this was interesting, Ovi's stats before and after the NHL announced they weren't going to the Olympics:

31GP / 22G (0.71gpg) / 25A / 47pts (1.52ppg) / +18
17GP / 7G (0.411gpg) / 6A / 13pts (0.76ppg) / -5

If Ovechkin keeps playing at #sadovi pace he'll finish with 84 points, which is doable for Crosby.

 

[daver]

What do you mean "if", he is already having the better season even if Ovi has more points.

Ovi had the hot start but Crosby has arguably been the best forward in the NHL since December 1st

NHL Stats

Not sure that Hart voters should ignore games from before Dec. 1. Do those games not count for some reason?

 

[authentic]

What do you mean "if", he is already having the better season even if Ovi has more points.

Ovi had the hot start but Crosby has arguably been the best forward in the NHL since December 1st

NHL Stats

It's crazy how good Ovechkin's overall season still looks even though he doesn't even register as an elite player for nearly 3 months now.

 

[authentic]

Arguably the best forward, but at least the best center after his bad first 8 games while he was recovering. Second most points in the league after Huberdeau and Pens sucked before he came back, since then they've had most wins after AVS I think

You really think he's been better than Matthews scoring at a goal per game and still a higher points per game than Crosby in that timeframe?

 

[Miro4Norris]

You really think he's been better than Matthews scoring at a goal per game and still a higher points per game than Crosby in that timeframe?

His defensive game sucks tho. Barely a plus-player. So yes.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

How many times are we going to have the same poll?

 

[authentic]

Ok but since when has Reinhart been center? Maybe watch games not just statistics. And he also has worse ppg after Sid's first 8 games so weird take. Matthews has nice stats but too bad that Matthews on the ice means about as many goals to the opponent than for his line.

 

[authentic]

His defensive game sucks tho. Barely a plus-player. So yes.

Ahhh, say no more.

 

[authentic]

His defensive game sucks tho. Barely a plus-player. So yes.

So let's pretend for one second that +/- was the deciding factor for who's better defensively, Sid would have a whopping +4 margin on Matthews this season, but suddenly if you go back to the beginning of 2019-20 Crosby is +12 in total and Matthews is +48.

For the record I think they are close defensively (despite their +/- leading one to believe Matthews is far better for the past 3 seasons), but offensively there's no contest.