Alexander Ovechkin faces major setback in pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's goal record

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Patrick Frost
November 19, 2024 (12:04)

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Last night, the Washington Capitals faced-off against Utah HC, and captain Alexander Ovechkin had to leave the game to due a reported knee injury.

The injury occurred at 14 minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the third period when Ovechkin suffered a collision with Utah forward Jack McBain has the capitals were trying to get out of their own end.

It was clear that he was in immediate pain and could not get up off the ice and signalled to the trainers come out immediately. Ovechkin's knee took a forceful contact - looking a little similar to the Patrik Laine injury that's kept the Habs forward out long term.
-Ryan Hall, Oilers Daily

Unfortunately, Ovechkin could hardly weight-bear on his leg and needed assistance back to the Capitals bench.

After a few moments of testing his knee on the bench, it became increasingly clear that a fairly significant injury had occurred, forcing him to go down the tunnel for medical intervention.

Prominent UBC sports doctor Harjas Grewa gave his visual diagnosis of the injury, stating that the Capitals captain could be sidelined for weeks.

Dr. Harjas Grewa also noted that a potential injury to the ACL is possible, but highly unlikely. A torn ACL would be worst case scenario moving forward as he inches closer to Wayne Gretzky's scoring title.

Wayne Gretzky's scoring record sits untouched at 894 goals. Last night, Ovechkin notched 2 goals, putting him in in first place with 15 tallies on the season.

As it stood prior to the injury, Ovechkin scored two goals on the evening and that put him at 868 goals. The entire league and most of the fan base is watching to see if he can get this done this year but if he misses any time due to this injury fans may need to wait to see if he can get it done.

Hopefully, Alex Ovechin makes a swift recovery as all sign were leading to him breaking Wayne Gretzky's record this season.