Capitals to activate Alex Ovechkin from IR

The wait is over for the Washington Capitals. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Capitals are expected to activate Alex Ovechkin from the team’s injured reserve Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ovechkin has missed the last 16 games for Washington after suffering a broken fibula against the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18. The injury was a major buzzkill to Ovechkin’s season as the veteran sniper got off to a torrid start with 15 goals and 25 points in 18 games.

His hot start put him only 27 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals. Ovechkin will still have 48 games to break Gretzky’s record this season despite missing over a month due to injury. Not only will Ovechkin chase the goal-scoring record for the remaining regular-season games, but he will also help Washington pursue the team’s first Metropolitan Division title since the 2019-20 season.

He’s now moved to second behind Connor McMichael in goal-scoring for the Capitals this season. Still, Washington performed well in its captain’s absence with a 10-5-1 record. Outside of their record, the Capitals have surprisingly excelled in areas of the game that Ovechkin would otherwise excel in.

Washington managed a 16.4 percent power-play percentage with nine goals in 55 opportunities with Ovechkin in the lineup at the beginning of the year but has turned things around with 13 goals in 47 attempts (27.7 percent) in his absence. Still, its five-on-five goal-scoring has taken quite a hit, dropping to 3.68 GF/G after averaging 4.33 with Ovechkin.

The Capitals won’t have to make any corresponding roster move for Ovechkin’s activation since they’re reportedly keeping Lars Eller on the team’s injured reserve due to illness. Former first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre will slot down the middle of the team’s third line, while Ovechkin will reprise his role on the team’s top line.

Ovechkin has publicly stated he’s putting the Capitals’ playoff aspirations above his chase for the goal-scoring record. If he can’t break it this season, he’ll have one more year under his current contract, giving him plenty of time to eventually take the crown.