Alex Ovechkin’s goal record chase on hold for a very good reason

Arguably the biggest surprise in the NHL this season has been the Washington Capitals. Sure, they squeaked into the playoffs last season, but were swept in the first round, proving that they had a long way to go towards being competitive.

They did revamp their roster a bit over the offseason, increasing expectations in the process, but nobody could've expected this. After a win in Utah on Monday, the Capitals improved to 13-4-1 on the season. The Capitals have 27 points on the season, not only good for first place in the Metropolitan Division, but the most in the Eastern Conference.

A big reason why the Capitals have gotten off to this scintillating start has to do with Alexander Ovechkin turning back the clock and looking like the best goal scorer in the league. He scored twice on Monday, bringing his season total to a league-leading 15 in just 18 games played. Unfortunately, Ovechkin was limited to just 14:06 on the ice on Monday, as he left the game late in the third period after suffering a knee injury. It was revealed on Tuesday that he'll miss more than just the late stages of that game.

Ovechkin is listed as week to week, meaning he'll miss at least a couple of weeks due to that injury. That is not only a huge blow to the surging Capitals, but it puts a major crimp in Ovechkin's chase to surpass Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer.

Alex Ovechkin's chase for history put on brief hold after suffering injury

Ovechkin entered the 2024-25 campaign with 853 goals in his illustrious 20-year NHL career, placing him just 41 goals behind Gretzky's 894. Considering the kind of goal scorer Ovechkin still is even at age 39, he seemingly had a very legitimate shot of passing Gretzky this season. Obviously, the injury puts that on hold.

What's most unfortunate about this injury is the timing. Ovechkin was scoring goals at a pace he hadn't in years. He had 15 in 18 games and five in two games before the injury. Had he not suffered the injury late in Utah, he might've been able to find a way to record back-to-back hat tricks. He was on fire, so it's disappointing that we won't get to see him build off that hot streak.

With those 15 goals, though, Ovechkin has cut the deficit from 41 to 26. Even if he has to miss 10 games or so, he'll have another 50+ contests remaining to try and score goals. Considering his early-season pace, he has more than enough time to break it this season.

As of now, it's unclear just how long Ovechkin will be sidelined. All Capitals fans can hope for is that by the time he does get back, the goal-scoring record is on Ovi's mind and the team doesn't slip too far in a tough Metropolitan Division.