The Washington Capitals may be without Alex Ovechkin for the foreseeable future after he left the third period of last night’s game against the New York Islanders in the third period and didn’t return to the ice.
Ovechkin was still on the bench but didn’t play the remainder of the third period or overtime. Ovechkin came off the ice with 2:49 left in regulation. Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed after the game that Ovechkin was indeed “unavailable” but didn’t know what was wrong with the great eight.
Laviolette said via JJ Regan of NBC Sports Washington:
"“I don’t even know what is wrong. I know that he wasn’t available during that time.”"
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Ovechkin finished the game with 17:18 of ice time recording four shots on goal. The Caps are holding an optional skate on Long Island as week speak. Per the team, Alex Ovechkin is day to day with a lower body injury.
We don’t know how long Ovechkin will be out. He could be missing tomorrow’s big rematch with the Islanders. He might miss the team’s first home game with fans. He could miss the rest of the regular season. Hope to God that doesn’t happen because he would be robbed of a 30 goal season.
Ovechkin has 24 goals and 18 assists for 42 points. After missing the early parts of the season due to COVID-19 protocols, Ovechkin got off to a slow start but turned it on to continue to break milestones along the way.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t score last night and even worse, we may be without him for a period of time. I think the team will be okay and still win games but Ovechkin missing any games hurts his stats as he tries to catch Wayne Gretzky.
But if Ovechkin wants to make the most of his time while off he should simply step in Brian MacLellan’s office while the Caps General Manager hands him a blank check.