After suffering an injury early in the third period against the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18, the Washington Capitals announced that forward Alex Ovechkin is out with a fracture to his left fibula for four to six weeks. If the timeline is accurate, this means he could miss around a dozen games or more in his 2024-25 campaign.
RT @CapitalsPR: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin underwent further evaluation with team doctors. It was confirmed that Ovechkin has a fracture to his left fibula and is anticipated to miss 4-6 weeks.
— The Hockey Writers (@thehockeywriters.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 5:43 PM
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The 39-year-old was having a season of the ages in D.C., but his injury puts that on hold. Through 18 games, he has 15 goals (0.83 goals per game), 25 points, and a plus-15 rating. His excellence has paved the way for the Capitals to be one of the best teams in the NHL at 13-4-1, third in the overall standings. Aside from team success, however, he had his own personal aspirations to chase.
Sitting at 868 goals, Ovechkin only needed 27 over his team’s final 64 games (0.42 goals per game, nearly half of his current pace) to surpass Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 by this spring. He can still accomplish this in theory, but it’ll be that much more of a battle for Washington’s long-time captain.
Related: Washington Capitals’ Improvements to Start 2024-25 Have Staying Power
More importantly for the Capitals as a team, losing who is objectively their most valuable player for up to six weeks could cause them to hit a wall. They’ve been cruising to this point with a plus-28 goal differential, but their play could regress without their captain. Ovechkin is first in goal-scoring this season, after all.
