Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin left their 6-2 win at Utah on Monday with a lower body injury, after scoring twice to move within 27 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said Ovechkin was being evaluated after the game and the team would know more about his status on Tuesday.
Ovechkin’s last shift ended at 5:30 of the third period following a collision with Utah forward Jack McBain. As both players turned towards a loose puck, their left knees collided. Ovechkin slid on the ice on his stomach in pain before being helped to the Washington bench. He eventually took a twirl on the ice before limping off to the trainers’ room.
“Yeah, that sucks. You hate to see it. He’s been absolutely on fire and huge for our team. He’s been playing incredible hockey,” Capitals forward Nic Dowd said.
While the collision appeared accidental, Capitals forward Tom Wilson challenged and fought McBain later in the period.
McBain opened the scoring for Utah before Washington answered with four straight goals. Two of those goals belonged to Ovechkin, continuing his torrid start in pursuit of Gretzky’s all-time goals record of 894. Ovechkin now has 868 career goals.
Ovechkin scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season, leading the NHL in goals for the first time since Jan. 2022. It’s the highest number of goals Ovechkin has scored in the first 18 games of a season. It was his 100th career multi-goal road game, which is 17 more than any other player in NHL history.
“I don’t even know if there are words to describe it,” Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren said. “It’s beyond impressive what he does. He’s our leader. It’s tough to see him go down.”
Ovechkin also made some history with his first goal of the game. By beating Utah goalie Connor Ingram, Ovechkin has now scored on 178 different goaltenders in his career, tying Jaromir Jagr for the most in NHL history.
“He’s been phenomenal this year, leading the charge and our team, not only from a leadership standpoint and in the locker room, but on the ice as well,” Carbery said of Ovechkin. “In times where you need these types of games, you need guys to step up and score or make a big play, he’s continued to do that.”
The Capitals have the second highest points percentage in the Eastern Conference (.750).
