Capitals' Alex Ovechkin Back on Ice Just Two Weeks After Suffering a Leg Fracture, Showing Remarkable Recovery
On Monday, Alex Ovechkin skated gently for the first time since injuring his left fibula while playing against the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18.
On Nov. 21, the Capitals revealed that Ovechkin would be sidelined for 4-6 weeks due to a leg-on-leg collision with Utah forward Jack McBain occurring 5:30 into the third period of their 6-2 win. On Monday, he skated in a tracksuit and helmet before practice, with Capitals athletic trainer Jason Serbus observing from the bench.
“It was nice to see, Just the first step. No timeline updates or anything like that. This is just a step in the progression of him coming back.” : coach Spencer Carbery said.
Ovechkin will sit out his seventh consecutive game when Washington (17-6-1) faces the San Jose Sharks at Capital One Arena on Tuesday. This will mark the longest absence of the 39-year-old’s career, exceeding the six games he missed due to an upper-body injury from Nov. 4-14, 2009.
The injury interrupted his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 goals. Ovechkin, the Capitals’ captain, was at the top of the League with 15 goals in 18 games this season before getting injured, raising his career total to 868 and coming within 27 goals of passing Gretzky.
Washington has a record of 4-2-0 without Ovechkin, having won their last four games consecutively.
Before fracturing his fibula, Ovechkin had only missed 59 games, 35 of which were due to injuries, across his 20 NHL seasons. The 11 matches he missed in the COVID-reduced 56-game 2020-21 season (seven due to a lower-body injury, four while in COVID protocol) represent the highest number of games he’s been absent from in any season.
Forward Sonny Milano, who hasn’t seen action since Nov. 6 versus the Nashville Predators due to an upper-body injury, skated in full gear before the Capitals’ practice on Monday but donned a non-contact jersey.
Defenseman John Carlson along with forwards Dylan Strome, Nic Dowd, and Brandon Duhaime had maintenance days and did not participate in practice.
Image Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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