Statistical Anomaly - Ovechkin Hits

It probably comes as no surprise that Alexander Ovechkin finds himself at, or near, the top of the NHL in numerous statistical categories, including points (third with 59), goals (first with 31), power play goals (fourth with 10), game winning goals (third with 6), shots on goal (first with 305, notching 103 more shots than second place Eric Staal), and ice time by a forward (first with 23:22 minutes per game, just ahead of Evgeni Malkin (22:40) and Sidney Crosby (22:13)).

What's unusual about the OV's play is that he also ranks seventh in the league in hits with 148. That's 100 more hits than Crosby (48) and four times as many as EV (37). It's worth noting that OV has also collected the fourth most minor penalties thus far this season (28), so I'm guessing not all those hits are clean.

Looks like all that goal celebration practice is developing into a fruitful physical game. Game onski.