Alex Ovechkin, Corey Perry Among NHL Scorers Who Didn’t Show Up in First Round of Playoffs

The first round of the NHL playoffs has come and gone, but a number of big-time stars forgot to show up. Some teams were able to survive despite the minimal contributions from their offensive stars, while others suffered. Here?s a look at the top five scorers who were missing in action in the first round.

5. Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

If the Anaheim Ducks score 21 goals in a playoff round, Corey Perry would be expected to net at least a handful of them. As it turns out, the former 50-goal scorer, who tied for the team lead with 15 goals this season, failed to light the lamp even once in the first round. It seems somewhat unfathomable, but Perry finished with a measly two assists. That?s a big reason why the Ducks are not one of the eight teams remaining.

4. Brad Richards, New York Rangers

Richards finished the regular season third on the team in scoring with 34 points. In the first round of the playoffs, though, Richards was a complete no-show.

By the time Game 7 rolled around, Richards was demoted to the fourth line. He finished the series with just one point, which is the fewest of any Rangers forward who plays full-time. At $6.67 million per year, the Rangers are expecting a lot more from him.

3. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

Toews is a good two-way player who did his fair share on the back end in the first round, but it was surprising to see him finish with just two points. Toews had 48 points in 47 regular-season games and finished 13th in the NHL in scoring. The Blackhawks are listed at 2-1 on the NHL odds to win the Stanley Cup, but they?ll need more from their captain if that?s to come to fruition.

2. Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins

Marchand led the B?s in scoring during the regular season (18 goals, 36 points), but he wasn?t anywhere near the team leaders in the first round. Marchand failed to score a single goal in seven games while mustering just three assists.

Much of the Bruins’ scoring in the first round was done by David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, but the Bruins will need more help from guys like Marchand if they are to beat the odds and advance any further in the playoffs.

1. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

A lot of people liked the Capitals’ NHL odds to win the Stanley Cup heading into the playoffs because they were one of the hottest teams coming down the stretch. The Caps won 11 of their 13 April games, and MVP candidate Alex Ovechkin was a big reason for their success. Ovechkin finished the regular season with 32 points in his final 20 games.

However, the first round of the playoffs was a different story. Ovechkin was completely shut down, notching just two points in seven games and registering no points in the final five games of the series. It?s no coincidence that the Caps lost four of those five games and were — again — ushered out of the playoffs earlier than expected.

This post is presented by Bovada.