The Washington Capitals will be without their captain and goal-scoring machine Alex Ovechkin for four to six weeks after he was diagnosed Thursday with a fractured left fibula.
Ovechkin, 39, exited Monday’s 6-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club with 14:30 remaining following a collision with Utah forward Jack McBain. A teammate had to help him off the ice.
The Capitals announced Tuesday that Ovechkin was considered week-to-week as he underwent further evaluation on his leg. On Wednesday, the team placed him on injured reserve and recalled forward prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko from AHL affiliate Hershey.
The injury interrupted Ovechkin while he was on a hot streak. He scored two goals in the Utah game before going down and has 13 goals in his past 11. Before Thursday’s games, he owned the NHL lead with 15 goals on the season.
Ovechkin’s pursuit of history will now be postponed as well. With 868 goals in his career, the Russian needs 27 to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894.
