The Capitals told reporters Sunday morning that Alex Ovechkin would miss practice and be day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Caps center Lars Eller had an update of his own on Ovechkin. He doesn’t expect his captain to be out very long and in his own words when asked about the Russian machine, “I’ve never seen it break.”
Eller on Ovechkin, the Russian machine that never breaks: "I never seen it break. And it gets repaired pretty quickly. It's not broke for long." #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 10, 2021
Eller’s not wrong. Ovechkin has only missed 42 games in his 16-year career, 24 of which were due to an injury. Ovi’s seven games missed due to a lower-body issue in 2020-21 were the most he’s ever missed in one season due to injury.
Brief glimpse of Ovi during practice today (📷: @of_elk) pic.twitter.com/KAVmQ7Hoan
— RMNB (@russianmachine) October 10, 2021
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette, in typical coach fashion, was a little less bullish about his superstar wing’s return.
“He’s day-to-day right now. I don’t think it’s a long-term thing,” he said.
The Capitals captain was replaced on the top line by Connor McMichael at practice.
Alex the GR8: Forever A Capital ❤️ #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/jn8zp6S8YH
— ✨🎃 RacHELL 🎃✨ (@kat326) July 27, 2021
Illustration: Rachel Cohen/RMNB
