Nov. 21, 4:41 p.m.: Additional testing revealed a left fibula fracture for Ovechkin, per the team. He’ll miss the next four to six weeks, putting his return around Christmas at the earliest. He was already moved to injured reserve.
Nov. 19, 11:33 a.m.: It’s a lower leg injury for Ovechkin that will leave him out on a week-to-week basis, the Caps announced. He’ll undergo additional evaluation tomorrow.
Nov. 19, 8:59 a.m.: Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is being evaluated for a lower-body injury after leaving last night’s game against Utah following a knee-on-knee collision with Jack McBain, head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters postgame, including Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network.
The Capitals will likely issue a further update on Ovechkin’s status at some point on Tuesday, Carbery said. He left the game early in the third period after his and McBain’s left legs inadvertently collided while Ovechkin was attempting to carry the puck out of the Washington zone (video via Sportsnet). The 39-year-old tried to remain on the bench, but after testing out his leg during a stoppage in play, he went to the room.
It puts a significant damper on a monster season for the future Hall-of-Famer. After scoring twice last night, Ovechkin had five goals in his previous two outings to accelerate him to the top of the NHL leaderboard with 15 in just 18 games. Not only is he on pace to break Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals this season, he’s currently tracking to become the oldest player ever to lead the NHL in goals while also breaking Gordie Howe’s record for most goals by a player in their age-39 season with 39.
Ovechkin missing any length of time puts all those marks in jeopardy. Injuries have been a rare occurrence for the 2004 first-overall pick, who’s played in 1,444 of a possible 1,503 regular-season games over his 20-year career. His last injury absence was a three-gamer in January 2024 due to a lower-body issue, and he’s never missed more than six consecutive games in his career.
In addition to his 868 overall goals, Ovechkin is also the active leader in even-strength goals (547) and game-winning goals (132). His 316 power-play goals and 6,690 shots on goal are already league records.
His potential injury also deprives the Caps of their best goal-scoring weapon amid an incredibly resurgent start to the season. After barely making the postseason in 2023-24 with a shocking -37 goal differential, Washington is 13-4-1, has the league’s best offense and eighth-ranked defense, and ranks second in the Metropolitan Division with a .750 points percentage.
If Ovechkin is set to miss any length time, all eyes will immediately turn to Dylan Strome, who leads the team with 22 assists and 28 points and a +18 rating. While his breakout has certainly helped The Great Eight along in his chase for the all-time record, Strome’s point totals have almost certainly benefitted in kind from having the Russian on his wing. How much of that pace he can keep up remains to be seen, while others like Connor McMichael (12 goals, 19 points) and Aliaksei Protas (seven goals, 18 points) will need to keep up their scorching pace to help the Caps stay in contention for the Metro title.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
I’m a Carolina Hurricanes fan, but I’m pulling for Ovechkin to break the record and also to get past 900 goals scored.
Dont post this on CC lol
It’s ok. Everyone on CC knows I’m a Caniac through and through. But I can still respect and admire the accomplishment of players on other teams. Alex was talking to Canes fans and signing autographs after a morning skate in Raleigh several years back. The guy seems like a stand up dude. No problem pulling for him, except when they play Carolina.
Haha I know, just yanking your chain. You know how CC feels about him.
Russian Machine never break, back tomorrow!
@PoisonedPens — Russian machine bent. Back day after tomorrow! :) BTW, the Caps’ radio guys weren’t happy with the hit, and even though it took a while, the #43 Train got some degree of revenge for his Captain. I wouldn’t be surprised if McBain has to answer for that from a couple of other opposition teams.
From four feet away from the net, And not a defender in sight. One cup.
There are good therapists for you to use to deal with your issues :)
This is my fault. I bought tickets for the 3/13/25 game against the Kings in the hopes he could pass Gretzky that night. I’m a jinx and should have known better….
Don’t feel bad dm…that was a good push. He will break it, but you’ll need to wait till next year. Understandably, that was a good timing game and it would have been perfect. But things happen for a reason I guess. Book another and I’ll follow you…
@HockeySenseNot & @dm867 — Think about this possibility. It’s definitely a long shot, but *what if* Alex comes back as strong as ever? And, with “horns-a-blazin” to make up for lost time. At least he has the mental makeup to do that. As long as there’s no setback in rehab, who knows? Again, this admittedly is a huge long shot, but it would make for the NHL’s dream season. Especially after all of the crap-called games by referee incompetence types this year, the fans really need to have something like this erase the bad taste in our mouths.
He has constantly shown resiliency through his career. I was following his Stanley Cup run with HUGE anticipation. It doesn’t matter if you are Russian, Canadian, United States, or anywhere! It’s hockey! The Flames have claim to fame for a great player like Jagr to finally call it quits in this league (yes I am a homer to a fault), but he will do this with one team. I’m an NHL fan first and foremost. This will be incredible! I’m rooting for him to come back with a vengeance and make a run. Whether he does it this year or next, it will be huge in many a fans books (unwritten book of the road in the NHL).
I’m such a fan…and again it is Homer-ism, but myself and 5 other family members are making the trip next March to see the Columbus Outdoor Game against The Wings on March 1st. My nephew of 18 years old has been a huge Columbus fan for years…and no one knows why lol. Guessing in a way, this is meant to be. I’ve always been a huge Yzerman fan growing up, but not a true Yzerplan fan…but that’s for another story. Maybe it’s bad feelings of 2004, and just don’t like that team (Lightning), but truly don’t feel he’s responsible fully for the team they became. Again, another story.
Just saying…a NHL fan overall and my history proves that. I truly hope Ovie does it this year. If not? Pick a date next year, and I’ll try my damndest to be there.
@HockeySenseNot — Just looked up some details on that game. Since it appears that CBJ will be the home team, do you think they will limit themselves to only one cannon? :) And, that had better serve as motivation for the Jackets to score early and often.
Yeah just did some research. It looks like they have 2 cannons in the stadium. I’m hoping they will go off a lot of times. I think I know what you mean though, with the game being later. Hopefully they just let things go. How many times does the outdoor game come around. ♂️
Jack McBain? McBain!?! Really!!
NHL should hire a hitman for this guy!!
A ruined storybook season on a useless hit by a plugger? I understand that he probably feels bad, but really…??
This would have been a lot easier to take if say, Crosby did it. McBain!?! Really….
Maybe he’ll do it on the last day of the season??
Timing is key for the NHL…it would kind of suck if we had to wait till the next season, being only a goal or 2 away. It’s history of course, but history in the making comes with a price. It’s all about timing.
Damn. By “day after tomorrow”, apparently I meant 4–6 weeks after that.