The Washington Capitals suffer a major loss on the goalscoring side, as Alex Ovechkin has been ruled week-to-week with a lower-body injury following the Caps’ Monday night matchup against the Utah Hockey Club.
Alex Ovechkin Injured Against Utah
Ovechkin suffered the injury early into the third period after colliding with Utah’s Jack McBain.
Alex Ovechkin is slow to get up after colliding knee-to-knee with Jack McBain. pic.twitter.com/gQNOiDMcPR
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 19, 2024
McBain and Ovechkin collided knee to knee, with Ovechkin immediately dropping to the ice, favouring the left leg. He has been on one of the fastest scoring paces of his career, scoring 15 goals through 18 games so far. In fact, he scored two in this game alone. Scoring on Utah goaltender Connor Ingram marks the 178th different goaltender Alex has scored on, according to Sportsnet.
According to The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber, this is similar to an injury he suffered against the Carolina Hurricanes following a collision with Jordan Staal. He didn’t miss any significant time.
Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carbery told reporters after the game that he was still being evaluated and that they expect to know more the next day.
What This Means
This is a huge blow to the Capitals’ offence. He is the team’s leading goal scorer this year and is second in terms of points behind Dylan Strome.
It also is a setback to Ovechkin’s chase for the all-time NHL goals record set by Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin is currently 26 goals behind Gretzky and can hit the mark within the season, considering his red-hot start.
Another point to consider is his age. Ovechkin is 39, and it could take a lot longer than before to fully recover from an injury of any kind, whether his body wants to carry on for another rigorous season of NHL action.
However, if he does decide to let this injury fully heal, 26 goals is a mark he can hit very easily. In fact, he has only scored less than 26 goals in a full season’s worth of action once- in the 2020-2021 season, where he recorded 24 in 45 games.
MAIN PHOTO: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
