Ovechkin’s injury — about which we don’t know specifics and therefore don’t know a timetable for his return — is also flat jarring. He is famously unbreakable. For the first time in his career, he is broken. In his 20th season, he was on an absolute heater — 13 goals in 11 games to take the league lead. In his 20th season, he is now dealing with the most significant injury of his career.
He is not lost for the season. But a Washington Capitals team that woke up Wednesday unexpectedly sitting atop the Metropolitan Division now must deal with a situation it has never known: finding its way without Ovechkin for weeks, at least.
Marvel at him one minute. Miss him — and miss him dearly — the next.
“I mean, he’s our captain,” forward Tom Wilson said. “He leads the way every night and has been a superstar that carries the load for so many years that, when he’s out, we got to make sure we’re playing to the standard that he would appreciate.”
That standard, early this season, was being reset. For the greatest goal scorer in history (yeah, I know, that’s a debatable take but a defensible one), that’s both mind-blowing and true. Ovechkin’s 15-goals-in-the-first-18-games barrage was a driving force behind the revamped Capitals’ surge — a surge that just concluded with a three-game, four-day trip out west that somehow yielded convincing wins against Colorado, Vegas and Utah.
So Ovechkin’s absence is about how these Capitals compensate and keep pressing forward in an enormously promising season. That’s important for Washington as a city, for the Capitals as a team. What’s important for the sport: How does this affect his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record?
Yes, his title as the greatest goal scorer in history is defensible. By the unanimously stipulated to fact that he is. Even if he never breaks Gretzkys record – which he will – and which will give him the title of *highest goal scorer in history*, he is undoubtedly the *greatest* goal scorer in history.
debatable?? Only to annoying Canadian hockey “analysts” who are pissed that a European is about to take Gretzky’s record. Come on, Barry…
Hes gonna go to the homeland to get some gass, then head to dubai to ride some camels and come back better than ever
5 comments
Column by [Barry Svrluga](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/barry-svrluga/?itid=ai_top_svrlugabw)
This is dizzying, going from “You’ve got to be kidding me; Alex Ovechkin is leading the NHL in goals at 39” to the previously unheard-of “Alex Ovechkin is on injured reserve with [a lower leg injury](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/19/alex-ovechkin-injury-status/?itid=ap_baileyjohnson&itid=lk_inline_manual_2).” He scored five goals in two days to grab the hockey world by the throat. He went down after [a leg-to-leg hit Monday night in Utah](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/19/capitals-utah-ovechkin-injury/?itid=ap_baileyjohnson&itid=lk_inline_manual_2) and could not skate thereafter. Feels like one of those pucks from the left faceoff circle — the howitzers Ovechkin has used to make heads spin for two decades — just whizzed by. This is whiplash.
Ovechkin’s injury — about which we don’t know specifics and therefore don’t know a timetable for his return — is also flat jarring. He is famously unbreakable. For the first time in his career, he is broken. In his 20th season, he was on an absolute heater — 13 goals in 11 games to take the league lead. In his 20th season, he is now dealing with the most significant injury of his career.
He is not lost for the season. But a Washington Capitals team that woke up Wednesday unexpectedly sitting atop the Metropolitan Division now must deal with a situation it has never known: finding its way without Ovechkin for weeks, at least.
Marvel at him one minute. Miss him — and miss him dearly — the next.
“I mean, he’s our captain,” forward Tom Wilson said. “He leads the way every night and has been a superstar that carries the load for so many years that, when he’s out, we got to make sure we’re playing to the standard that he would appreciate.”
That standard, early this season, was being reset. For the greatest goal scorer in history (yeah, I know, that’s a debatable take but a defensible one), that’s both mind-blowing and true. Ovechkin’s 15-goals-in-the-first-18-games barrage was a driving force behind the revamped Capitals’ surge — a surge that just concluded with a three-game, four-day trip out west that somehow yielded convincing wins against Colorado, Vegas and Utah.
So Ovechkin’s absence is about how these Capitals compensate and keep pressing forward in an enormously promising season. That’s important for Washington as a city, for the Capitals as a team. What’s important for the sport: How does this affect his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record?
Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/20/alex-ovechkin-gretzky-record/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/20/alex-ovechkin-gretzky-record/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
Fuck McBain
All my homies hate McBain
Yes, his title as the greatest goal scorer in history is defensible. By the unanimously stipulated to fact that he is. Even if he never breaks Gretzkys record – which he will – and which will give him the title of *highest goal scorer in history*, he is undoubtedly the *greatest* goal scorer in history.
debatable?? Only to annoying Canadian hockey “analysts” who are pissed that a European is about to take Gretzky’s record. Come on, Barry…
Hes gonna go to the homeland to get some gass, then head to dubai to ride some camels and come back better than ever