Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin skated with his regular linemates in practice Friday and could return to the ice for Saturday’s visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to ESPN.
Ovechkin, who fractured his left fibula in a collision with Utah forward Jack McBain on Nov. 18, reportedly practiced with center Dylan Strome and winger Aliaksei Protas and participated in power play drills during practice Friday.
A final decision is not expected to be made until Saturday. Caps coach Spencer Carbery said he wants to see how Ovechkin reacts to a full practice but added that the 39-year-old captain is “trending the right way.”
The Capitals entered Friday in second place in the Eastern Conference, having won 10 of the 15 games Ovechkin has missed — the longest layoff of his career. The longest he sat out previously was six games with an upper-body injury from Nov. 4-14, 2009.
Ovechkin was on a hot streak before the leg injury. He scored two goals in the Utah game before going down and has 13 goals in his past 11. At the time, Ovechkin led the league with 15 goals in 18 games.
His pursuit of history was postponed as well. With 868 goals in his career, the Russian veteran needs 27 to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894.
Ovechkin already has the NHL records for career power-play goals (316) and shots on goal (6,690) in his 1,444 games. The three-time Hart Trophy winner has only missed 50 games because of injury in 20 NHL seasons.
–Field Level Media
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