We finally have clarity on Alex Ovechkin’s lower leg injury: according to WHO, he will be out approximately four-to-six weeks due to a fractured left fibula.
Ovechkin was hurt when he collided knee to knee with Utah’s Jack McBain in the third period, and all the team – and head coach Spencer Carbery with the Junkies – has said since then is he is ‘week-to-week’ pending further evaluation, but Carbery said it was ‘not a season ender.’
Capitals PR posted the official news around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, not long before the team dropped the puck against Colorado at Capital One Arena:
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.
Ovechkin, who was the NHL leader with 15 goals as of the injury, will now have the longest injury layoff of his career. The timeline puts him back somewhere between Christmas and New Year’s Day, hopefully…meaning he’ll have around 50 games to get the 27 goals he needs to pass Wayne Gretzky and become the NHL’s all-time goals leader.