Alex Ovechkin will return to the Washington Capitals’ lineup on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs after missing 16 games with a broken fibula.
The Capitals captain has not played since suffering the injury during a collision with Jack McBain of the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18. At that time, Ovechkin was leading the NHL in goals with 15. As he returns, he sits nine goals behind league leader Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.
“It doesn’t matter which city we are in… I just want to come back and play hockey,” Ovechkin said on Saturday. “It was hard months. Work out, watch the games. You always want to help your teammates and your team to win. It was a hard time.”
Ovechkin, 39, had a red-hot start to the season and had scored five goals in his previous two games before the injury. His 15 goals this season puts him at 868 for his career, 27 away from breaking the NHL record of 894 held by Wayne Gretzky.
Ovechkin resumed light skating 14 days after the injury happened and took part in the team’s morning skate on Dec. 14 while wearing a non-contact jersey. A week later, he was cleared for contact. There was a possibility of a return before the NHL’s holiday break, but the team decided a few extra days would be best for his recovery.
Being out of the lineup has been a rare occurrence for Ovechkin during his NHL career. This 16-game absence has been the longest he’s been out of the Capitals’ lineup since he entered the league in 2005. The longest previous layoff was six games after he suffered an upper-body injury in 2009.
Washington went 10-5-1 with Ovechkin gone and remains in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the New Jersey Devils. The Capitals trail the Devils by three points but have four games in hand.
Chase for Gretzky resumes
Ovechkin returns to the Capitals with 868 career NHL goals, 26 away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s record, which he achieved on March 29, 1999, against the New York Islanders. The Capitals have 48 games remaining in the regular season and if Ovechkin resumes scoring at the rate he was before he got hurt, history could be made before the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in December that he will follow Ovechkin around when he’s within four or five goals of the record with Gretzky accompanying him.
“It’s just a matter of time, whether it’s late this year, early next year, whenever,” Gretzky told NHL.com earlier this season about Ovechkin’s chances of breaking his record. “I mean, he’s a great player. He’s a great goal scorer.”
