Riding his hottest streak of the season, Alex Ovechkin saw his night came to an early end on Monday.
Now the Washington Capitals and their captain will wait to see if he will miss more than just the end of a blowout win.
After scoring two goals in what would be a 6-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City, Ovechkin collided with Utah forward Jack McBain while trying to get the puck out of the defensive zone with 14:30 left in the game.
After the players caught each other in the legs in what appeared to be inadvertent contact, Ovechkin crumpled to the ice and took a moment to get to his skates. The 39-year-old veteran was helped off the ice by teammate Jakob Chychrun and sat on the bench briefly before going back to the locker room.
He did not return.
After the game, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters Ovechkin was still being evaluated.
The two goals gave the Russian 868 goals for his career, putting him 26 behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL-record total. The goals also gave Ovechkin the NHL lead for this season with 15. The 18 games Ovechkin needed to get to 15 are the fewest in his distinguished career he has taken to hit that mark in a season.
He scored a hat trick in a 5-2 win at Vegas on Sunday and has 13 goals in his last 11 games.
Ovechkin also tied an NHL record on Tuesday when he scored past a 178th different goalie, Utah’s Connor Ingram. He now shares that mark with Jaromir Jagr. In addition, Ovechkin posted his 100th multi-goal road game, becoming the first player to hit that mark.
The Capitals, winners of four straight, next play on Thursday against the visiting Colorado Avalanche.
–Field Level Media
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