Alex Ovechkin left the Washington Capitals’ 6-2 win against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on Monday with an apparent left leg injury.
Washington was awaiting information on Ovechkin’s injury after the game.
“He’s being evaluated as we speak and we’ll know more tomorrow,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.
Ovechkin was slow to get up and was helped to the bench by teammate Jakob Chychrun after colliding with Utah forward Jack McBain 5:30 into the third period. The 39-year-old captain’s left knee appeared to buckle after McBain’s left leg struck his lower-left leg.
Ovechkin remained on the bench until a stoppage following Brandon Duhaime’s goal that increased Washington’s lead to 5-2 at 7:30. During the stoppage, Ovechkin tried to skate off the injury but appeared in pain before limping to the locker room.
He did not return.
“It [stinks],” Capitals forward Nic Dowd said. “Hate to see it. He’s been absolutely on fire and he’s huge for our team. He’s our captain. You’ve got to score goals to win games. He’s been playing incredible hockey, so, yeah, I hate to see it.”
Ovechkin scored twice earlier in game and leads the NHL with 15 goals in 18 games this season. He increased his career total to 868 goals and moved to within 27 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894.
According to NHL Stats, Ovechkin is the first is the first player age 39 or older in NHL history to be the League’s first skater to 15 goals in a season. Prior to Ovechkin, the oldest player to reach 15 goals first was Frank Mahovlich, who was 33 years and 304 days old when he scored his 15th goal in his 14th game of the season for the Montreal Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 10, 1971.
The Capitals have the day off Tuesday and will travel home before practicing on Wednesday. Their next game is against the Colorado Avalanche at Capital One Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; KUSA, MNMT, ALT, SNP, SNO, SNE).
