NHL Playoffs 2017: Alex Ovechkin was playing injured

The Russian Hockey Federation confirmed today that Alex Ovechkin was playing with an injured hamstring and knee.

The Washington Capitals’ most well-known star, Alex Ovechkin, was reportedly playing with an injured hamstring and knee during the playoffs.

In a translated report from RMNB, the Russian Hockey Federation stated that Ovechkin would not be traveling to take part in the 2017 IIHF World Championship with Team Russia due to a lower body injury.

Russian head coach Oleg Znarok confirmed this after Russia beat Denmark 3-0. Znarok was much more revealing than the typical injury report from the NHL, which had him listed with a lower body injury:

"“Sasha always comes to play for Russia,” Znarok said. “But in this case he played injured, on injections… his knee and hamstring. So naturally he said there is only 25 spots on the roster, I don’t want to undermine the team. I appreciate his candor.”"

Reports on when the injury occurred are pointing back to the first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. During Game 5 of that series, Ovechkin was the victim of a rather questionable knee-to-knee hit by Leafs forward Nazem Kadri. Kadri did not face any retrospective discipline for this hit.

Znarok did confirm that he invited Ovechkin to participate at the IIHF World Championship, despite the injury news.

"“I did invite him anyway,” Znarok said. “Even with his injury. But he understands better whether he can help us in this situation or not. And I appreciate that.”"

Next: New York Rangers postmortem: Time is running out

Ovechkin opted to pass and recuperate before taking part in any further hockey. There is also no exact timeline on when Ovechkin will return to hockey activities. With the Washington Capitals being eliminated last night in Game 7, Ovechkin will have plenty of time to get healthy.

Despite the knee and hamstring injury, Ovechkin had five goals and three assists over the course of 13 playoff games.