Alex Ovechkin will miss the next 4 to 6 weeks with a fractured left fibula, the Washington Capitals announced Thursday.
The Capitals captain and current NHL leading scorer suffered the injury during Monday night’s win over the Utah Hockey Club. Ovechkin had a leg collision with Utah forward Jack McBain and immediately fell to the ice. A few minutes later, he tested his leg with a short skate, but later left the game and did not return.
The Capitals, who are second in the Eastern Conference with 28 points, will be without Ovechkin for the longest stretch of his career since he entered the NHL in 2005-06. The 39-year-old has missed just 35 games through injury, with other absences due to suspensions and being in the Covid protocol.
The longest Ovechkin missed in the past was six games due to an upper-body injury in November 2009.
“Everybody’s crazy about it,” said Capitals forward Tom Wilson, Ovechkin’s teammate since 2013. “We were sitting there going, ‘This is weird. Like, it’s unbelievable that he’s actually hurt.” Is that one of those things where he’s going to miss games? I’ve been here for a long time and it’s new to me.’
Ovechkin has had a hot start to the season and scored five goals in the previous two games before the injury. His 15 goals this season puts him at 868 in his career, 26 behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894.
Many believed that Ovechkin could catch The Great One sometime during the 2025-26 season, but his play early on changed his mind to believe that the record could be broken. this season.
Now Ovechkin’s pursuit of history will have to wait.