"For us, we want to play any game, right?" Ovechkin said after the Capitals held a 40-minute practice Sunday, having arrived here in the early afternoon. "Especially, I love Montreal, I love playing in this arena, but [there's] nothing I can do. It's the rules. I'll miss that game, but I was thinking about the future, what's going to be best for me and for my organization.
"The break was good, I spent time with my family, with my kid, just relaxing. Don't think about much, it was cool."
Ovechkin has 692 regular-season goals, tied with Hockey Hall of Fame center Steve Yzerman for No. 9 on the NHL's all-time list. Next up will be Mark Messier (694), Mike Gartner (708) and Phil Esposito, who is No. 6 all-time with 717.
Talk is heating up of Ovechkin having a run at the NHL record of 894, held by Wayne Gretzky.
On Friday, during Hockey Hall of Fame festivities in St. Louis, Gretzky said he was pulling for Ovechkin to catch a record that once was thought to be untouchable.
"[Gretzky] told me when we had dinner in L.A. a couple years ago," Ovechkin said of the Great One's support. "It's nice to hear [that] from him. I have a very good relationship with him, but there's still a long way to go."
Ovechkin heads into the second half of the season with a simple goal, with 50 points (34 goals, 16 assists) in 49 games: "The most important thing for us is not to get injured, you don't want to get hurt before playoffs," he said. "Just play the same way, get better every night, get better every day. That's our mindset."