The Washington Capitals welcomed captain Alexander Ovechkin back into the lineup this past weekend for the first time in over a month due to a lower-body injury. Despite missing their on-ice leader for a month, Washington proved itself as one of the top teams in the NHL. The Capitals continued to roll with a winning record over that time frame.
During the weekend’s back-to-back road games, Ovechkin scored twice for Washington, moving closer to Wayne Gretzky’s 894-goal milestone. As the record chase resumes, Ovechkin and his Capitals will get a chance to impress the home fans with a handful of games at Capital One Arena entering the New Year.
Capitals Successfully Survived Ovechkin’s Absence
After departing the road game against the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18, Ovechkin missed 16 games over five weeks with a broken leg between the end of November and most of December. During that time, the Capitals still performed like one of the best teams in the NHL, with a 10-5-1 record, including a 6-3-0 road mark. Washington’s goaltenders, 31-year-old Charlie Lindgren and 27-year-old Logan Thompson, did much of the heavy lifting by keeping pucks out of the net during the stretch.
On the offensive side of the puck, Spencer Carbury’s team scored 59 goals over those 16 games without Ovechkin, which is 3.68 goals per game. Washington’s 2024-25 season average, including time with Ovechkin, is third-best in the NHL at 3.67 goals per game.
Ovechkin Nets Two Goals in Washington’s Weekend Games
The Capitals completed a three-game swing through the Atlantic Division with a weekend win against the Toronto Maple Leafs and a loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Ovechkin scored his 16th goal of the season into an empty net in his return to the lineup to cap off a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs. After the game, Ovechkin told the media he was thrilled to get back on the box score. “Yeah, it’s nice to be back on the board,” Washington’s captain said. “We played the right way. I’ll take it.”
“It’s nice to be back on the board.”
Alex Ovechkin discusses his return to game action and scoring his 869th career goal in tonight’s victory over Toronto.#CapsLeafs pic.twitter.com/YLZQrAMmaE
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 29, 2024
The next night, Ovechkin fired a puck past Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon in a 4-2 Washington loss for his 17th goal celebration of the season. The goal was the 870th lamplighter of Ovechkin’s career. That placed Washington’s superstar forward just 25 goals short of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record at 894 regular-season goals with 46 games left in the Capitals’ season.
Upcoming Schedule for Ovechkin
The Capitals will play five of its next six games at home over the next two weeks, with a one-game road trip versus the Buffalo Sabres in the middle. Washington welcomes the Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, and New York Rangers to the Nation’s Capital before heading to Northern New York to face the Sabres. This season, the Capitals have averaged 3.59 goals per game in Washington.
Related: Alex Ovechkin Could Break Wayne Gretzky’s Goal Record in Early 2025
Ovechkin has performed better away from home this season. The Russian winger has scored 11 goals in ten road contests while lifting Capitals fans out of their seats six times at home over the same number of games. Outside of Minnesota (6th) and Boston (14th), four of the six teams on Washington’s upcoming schedule rank in the bottom half of the league in goals allower per game – New York (17th), Buffalo (26th), Vancouver Canucks (22nd), and Montreal Canadiens (28th). These matchups could allow Ovechkin to get rolling, like in November when he was the NHL’s leading scorer before his untimely injury.
Washington returns to the frozen floor tomorrow for a New Year’s Eve afternoon contest against the Bruins at 12:30 p.m. EST at Capital One Arena for the Capitals’ final game of the 2024 calendar year.
