The forward did not take part in the morning skate and remains day to day with an upper-body injury sustained in the third period of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said he's hopeful Ovechkin will be ready for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round.
The Capitals (44-23-12) are one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division and three back of the Boston Bruins for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East with three regular-season games remaining.
Ovechkin joined the Capitals for their team photo Monday, sitting between teammates John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom and chatting with owner Ted Leonsis. Washington did not practice.
Ovechkin tripped over the stick of Maple Leafs goalie Erik Kallgren and crashed left arm first into the end boards after failing to score on a breakaway 1:58 into the third period. Washington's captain remained down until play was stopped at 2:03 and then got up slowly and exited to the locker room. He did not return.
"I think he skated into my stick and tripped on it. So it was not my intention to trip him and I hope he's well," Kallgren said Sunday. "... Obviously he was frustrated. I didn't mean to trip him. I didn't mean to cause an injury so I hope he's fine."
Ovechkin has played 77 of the Capitals' 79 games this season. The 36-year-old missed games while in NHL COVID-19 protocol against the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 2 and the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 10.
"I've never met anyone tougher than that guy," Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said Sunday. "We all hope he's fine. I just talked to him and I think he'll be all right. It's always scary seeing 'Big 8' go down and lay on the ice. He's a tough guy. But if there was anyone I would imagine wouldn't miss any more time than he needs to, it'd be 8."
The No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, Ovechkin has played 1,274 of 1,318 games (96.7 percent) for the Capitals since entering the NHL in 2005.
Ovechkin leads the Capitals and is fourth in the NHL with 50 goals this season. He tied the NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy when he reached 50 goals for the ninth time in his 17 NHL seasons in a 4-3 overtime loss against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
Ovechkin is third in NHL history with 780 goals after passing Marcel Dionne (731) for fifth against the New York Rangers on Oct. 13, Brett Hull (741) for fourth against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 12 and Jaromir Jagr (766) for third against the Islanders on March 15.
He is 21 goals behind Gordie Howe in second with 801 and 114 behind Gretzky's NHL record of 894.
Photo courtesy: Jess Rapfogel / Washington Capitals
