"Ovi decline is real": Alex Ovechkin faces longest goal drought in career as race to catch Gretzky looks to be in jeopardy amid Caps fall to Flyers

Alex Ovechkin appears to be getting more and more distant from catching Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record of 894 goals with each passing day.

Thursday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers was another goalless game for the Washington Capitals captain. Ovechkin's goal drought has now reached 11 games, making it the longest in his illustrious 19-year career.

Ovechkin's last goal came back on Nov. 19 in the Caps' 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then, it has become a daunting task for one of the greatest goal scorers to find the puck back in the net.

What's more concerning is that Alex Ovechkin has only accumulated five goals in 26 games this season. He's on pace for 16 goals, and should he end his campaign with less than 20 goals, it will be the first time in his career that Alex Ovechkin fails to accomplish the 20-goal mark.

Ovechkin had a good game against the Flyers. He even recorded the second-most shots attempted (4), alongside Connor McMichael, in the contest. However, the result of those attempts has not been in favor of "The Great Eight."

Unsurprisingly, fans were quick to react to Ovechkin's longest goal drought in his career, as they took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their opinions.

One tweeted:

"The Ovi decline is real :/"

Here are some more reactions on X:

Alex Ovechkin has notched up 16 points on five goals and 16 assists this season. With 827 career goals, Ovi needs 67 more goals to break Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 goals.

Alex Ovechkin's goal drought continues as Caps lose to Flyers in shootout

On Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers marched on with a 4-3 win in the shootout.

The first period went goalless. In the second period, Bobby Brink put the home side up 1-0 at 2:14. 46 seconds later, Connor McMichael tied the game 1-1 for the Caps after slotting a pass from Aliaksei Protas into the back of the Flyers net.

At 15:29, Tom Wilson gave the Washington Capitals a two-goal advantage after he converted a cross-crease pass from Dylan Strome to beat the Flyers' Samuel Ersson in the net.

In the third period, at the 5:25 mark, Joel Farabee tied the game for the Flyers 2-2. However, four minutes later, Strome restored the Caps' lead to 3-2. Owen Tippet then tied the game late in the third period. In the shootout, the Flyers beat the Capitals 4-3.

Morgan Frost had two points, while Ersson made 27 saves for the Flyers in the contest. Meanwhile, Protas, Strome, and Wilson all notched up two points for the Caps in the game, while Charlie Ingram made 29 saves.

Alex Ovechkin will look to end his goal drought when the Caps face the Nashville Predators on Saturday.