Alex Ovechkin has never experienced this kind of drought.

The high-scoring Washington Capitals superstar was held without a shot on goal in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Nashville, marking the third time in his past seven games he's had a zero in that column.

Ovechkin did record six shot attempts, and appeared to score in the third period, but the goal was overturned due to an offside call and therefore no official shot was recorded.

"Obviously he's a shooter; he's got to get pucks to the net," head coach Barry Trotz said after the game, per CSN Washington. "He's a little off, a little bit off. Players will go through that."

For the season, Ovechkin has fired 223 shots on net in 61 games, good for an average of 3.65 per game. That's well down from his career average of 5.04 shots per game heading into this season. His 27 goals put him in a tie for the fifth-highest total in the NHL, seven back of Sidney Crosby.

At this point, it seems unlikely he'll win another Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer, especially if his shot rate doesn't rise. Still, Trotz doesn't appear overly worried.

"Ovi's pretty streaky if you look in his past," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if he got 10 goals in the next five games. That's how he operates.

"Sometimes he'll go a little bit flat there. He's going through of a little of a dry spell, I think."

As long as the dam breaks a bit in the playoffs, then, the first-place Capitals will survive a brief dry spell during the regular season.

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