ARLINGTON, Va. — (AP) — Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record should be back on very soon.
Signs point to Ovechkin returning to the Washington Capitals' lineup on Saturday night at the Toronto Maple Leafs after missing five weeks with a broken left leg. Ovechkin skated with regular linemates Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas and took part in power play drills in practice Friday.
Coach Spencer Carbery said things were trending the right way for Ovechkin but wanted to see how the 39-year-old comes out of a full practice before making a decision Saturday.
Ovechkin led the league with 15 goals in 18 games before getting injured last month. He is now 27 away from breaking Gretzky's mark of 894 goals that was once considered unapproachable.
The veteran winger and longtime Capitals captain could challenge it before the end of this season if he resumes the pace he was on before a collision with Utah's Jack McBain on Nov. 18 caused a broken fibula.
Washington won 10 of the 15 games Ovechkin missed and sits second in the Eastern Conference coming out of the Christmas break.
“There’s the colossal emptiness of it, but there’s also a lot of opportunity for guys who would never otherwise be there when he’s on this team,” longtime teammate and fellow 2018 Stanley Cup champion John Carlson said earlier this month. “When someone goes down, it’s obviously always kind of a rallying thing where guys need to step up, guys need to fill in and play bigger roles and play more minutes. But I think the way that our team’s built is depth, and that’s been our strength this year is kind of contributions from everybody.”
Ovechkin has only missed 50 games because of injury over his 20 seasons in the NHL, tremendous durability for a physical player that has allowed him to take a shot at Gretzky's record.
“He doesn’t go out there and just coast around,” winger Tom Wilson said recently. “He’s played 20 years every shift running over guys and skating. He’s a power forward, the best goal-scorer ever maybe, and he’s a power forward that plays the game really hard.”
After playing the Leafs, Capitals visit the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday in the second half of their back-to-back set before returning home to face the Boston Bruins on New Year's Eve.
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