Strain puts Ovechkin on shelf
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
November 3, 2009
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| Alex Ovechkin is week-to-week with an "upper-body strain." (Getty Images) |
Capitals star left wing listed as week-to-week
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will not play in Wednesday night's game at the New Jersey Devils and is listed as "week-to-week" by the team after undergoing an MRI exam on Monday afternoon.
According to team officials, Ovechkin suffered an "upper-body strain" during Sunday's loss to Columbus. He will travel with the club to New Jersey and Florida to continue his treatment. Monday was an off day for Washington's players after a busy stretch of four games in six nights. Ovechkin, however, did appear at the organization's Arlington County headquarters to meet with athletic trainer Greg Smith.
Ovechkin was hurt in the second period against Columbus -- either during a scrum in front of the Blue Jackets' bench or during a collision on his next shift with Columbus forward Raffi Torres. After that play -- at 6 minutes, 10 seconds of the second -- Ovechkin immediately skated off the ice and did not return. NHL teams are not required to announce the exact nature of a player's injury.
"He was definitely sore," Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said prior to the official announcement. "You'll never see Alex Ovechkin sit there and say 'I just don't feel like playing today. I'm not feeling good and I'm not going to play.' There was a problem yesterday."
Ovechkin, 24, has missed just four games in his career -- and two of those came last season when he flew home to Russia to be with his ailing maternal grandfather. The Caps play on the road at the Florida Panthers on Friday night and have a return date with them Saturday at Verizon Center. They certainly have enough offense to survive a few games without Ovechkin, who is the league's two-time MVP and leads the NHL in goals (13) and points (23). But that gets harder to do the longer he is out. Washington has nine games scheduled between now and Nov. 21 -- five on the road.
"We have to buckle down. You're looking at a goal a game he scores," Boudreau said. "So we've got to play better defense. We can't allow four or five goals a game. You have to win 3-1 or 2-1 ... I think we've got enough character players in there that they will understand what we will have to do without Alex."
