Hockey fans vote to decide the starters for the NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 25, and those in Quebec got out the vote and put four Canadiens on the ice for the first drop of the puck at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

The four Habs and pair of Penguins that fill out the Eastern Conference starting lineup are a talented group, but there’s something wrong that the league’s reigning MVP and scoring champ, Alexander Ovechkin, won’t be on the ice for the opening faceoff.

With 27 goals in 38 games this season, Washington’s Ovechkin shares the league lead with Philadelphia’s Jeff Carter, and the Capitals star ranks second with 53 points. Only Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, who won a starting berth in Montreal, has tallied more points (60).

Surprisingly, Ovechkin garnered fewer than 500,000 votes, compared to more than 1.2 million for each of five Eastern Conference forwards who finished ahead of him in the balloting. They include the All-Star starters -- Montreal’s Alexei Kovalev and Sidney Crosby and Malkin of the Penguins -- as well as two other Canadiens, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay.

Penguins fans also made some noise. Not only will Crosby and Malkin be starters, two Pittsburgh defensemen, Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, received more than 1.3 million votes each, though they finished behind Canadiens Andre Markov and Mike Komisarek for starting assignments. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, with nearly 1.5 million votes, finished second to the East starter, Montreal’s Carey Price.

Obviously fans in Quebec and western Pennsylvania did their part to secure bids for their favorite players, but it’s still hard to understand how Ovechkin could finish so far behind the pack. Was it his slow start? The 23-year-old left wing scored twice in the second game of the season, a 4-2 win over Chicago on Oct. 11, but those were his only two goals in his first 11 games of the season.

Since then, however, Ovechkin has 25 goals in 27 games, a stretch in which the Capitals are 19-7-1 and have taken over first place in the Southeast Division. When Ovechkin recorded a shorthanded score to clinch a 2-1 win over the Rangers Saturday, the Caps moved 10 points ahead of second-place Carolina.

With Saturday’s victory, Washington has won 11 of its last 12 games. Ovechkin has four game-winning goals during the Caps’ surge, and no one can top his goal scoring in this span.

NHL Goal & Point Leaders, Dec. 10 & Since

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GP. . . . . .G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GP. . . . . Pts
Ovechkin, Was. . . . . 12. . . . . .13. . . . . . .Backstrom, Was. . . . 12. . . . . . 19
Hartnell, Phi. . . . . . .12. . . . . . 9. . . . . . .Elias, NJ. . . . . . . . . 14. . . . . . 19
Staal, Car. . . . . . . . .12. . . . . . 9. . . . . . .Ovechkin, Was. . . . . 12. . . . . . 18
Datsyuk, Det. . . . . . .12. . . . . . 8. . . . . . .Datsyuk, Det. . . . . . 12. . . . . . 18
Eriksson, Dal. . . . . . .12. . . . . . 8. . . . . . .Parise, NJ. . . . . . . . 14. . . . . . 18
St. Louis, TB. . . . . . .12. . . . . . 8. . . . . . .Krejci, Bos. . . . . . . 12. . . . . . 17
Little, Atl. . . . . . . . .14. . . . . . 8. . . . . . .Savard, Bos. . . . . . . 12. . . . . . 17

The co-leader in points during this stretch is Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom. The 21-year-old center ranks fifth in the NHL this season with 33 assists, but no one can top his 16 during Washington’s 11-1-0 run.

Seven of those assists came on Ovechkin goals, including a pair in a 5-4 overtime win over the Islanders on Dec. 16. Backstrom helped set up an early goal by Ovechkin, then found him at the edge of the right circle for a wrister that gave the Capitals the victory with 10.7 seconds remaining in OT.

Arguably Ovechkin is the best player in the game, but he won’t be on the ice at the start of the NHL All-Star Game. That’s crazy, but the only numbers that really count are wins and team points. The surprising Capitals are second in the East in both wins (26) and points (55), behind the equally surprising Bruins. Undoubtedly leading the Caps deep into the playoffs pulls more weight with the league MVP than a fan vote for the local favorites.