Ovechkin said his focus heading into the remainder of the season is to "stay healthy, get ready for most important thing, obviously playoffs, and play the best hockey.”
With points in six straight games (3-0-3) and one regulation loss since Dec. 29 (12-1-6), the Capitals (36-11-8) lead the Carolina Hurricanes by 10 points for first in the Metropolitan Division, are nine points ahead of the Florida Panthers for first in the Eastern Conference and are one point behind the Winnipeg Jets for first in the NHL standings.
“But it's still 20 something games left,” Ovechkin said. “We can't look forward too far. We’re just going to take it game by game and it's nice to be back and fresh.”
Still, since missing 16 games with a fractured left fibula from Nov. 21-Dec. 28, Ovechkin has been trying to regain some of the timing he lost while he was out. That was his reasoning for wanting to get on the ice a few times while he was away.
He had worked previously with Kaspariatis prior to the NHL return to play from its pause for the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019-20 season.
“I think especially when I got hurt, I don't skate much during that break and it was kind of hard for me coming back on the ice,” Ovechkin said. “So, I don't want to lose that touch, lose that skating ability. So, it was nice and thankful for [Kasparaitis].”
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said before the break he thought the time off would be beneficial to Ovechkin and that “His best hockey is to come in this season.”
“I feel that way because I remember at the beginning of the year and then the injury, just in my head, at 39 years old, missing that amount of time and trying to come back and get caught up in the National Hockey League, I think that’s really, really hard, and I saw a difference,” Carbery said Feb. 8. “I think he’s going to be even better coming out of the break.”
Carbery’s belief was reinforced by seeing the work in he put in while he was in Florida.
“It was purposeful,” Carbery said. “He could have vacationed and gone halfway across the world. But coming back from the injury and wanting to stay stateside and sort of make sure that he was looking after himself and getting ready for this last final push ... it just tells me in this situation that ‘O’ is really serious about putting himself in -- not that he hasn’t been -- but because of the injury and because of coming back and because of where we are in the season, I think him utilizing this time was the No. 1 priority for him in this situation.”
Ovechkin has a track record of finishing the season strong after a break. Following the break for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, Ovechkin returned to score 22 goals in the final 35 games of the season.
When asked Wednesday if he thought he could do something similar to finish this season, Ovechkin replied, “I hope so. Why not?”
Having been teammates with Ovechkin for 12 seasons, Capitals forward Tom Wilson said he wouldn’t be surprised if he did.
“I probably should have learned from last year,” Wilson said. “I probably should have gone with him for the break. We spent our break three or four years ago together and he always seems to be flying. So I think it just shows you how much this all means to him right now. Everyone’s on the beach and he’s putting in work in the gym and he’s skating, and he looked good today.
“So I know he’ll be flying. He’ll be leading the way.”
