Alex Ovechkin gave everything he had in the Washington Capitals’ final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
In the Capitals’ 5-4 shootout loss to the Utah Hockey Club, Ovechkin had a hat trick of assists, including the primary assist on Tom Wilson’s game-tying goal to force overtime. He also fired four shots on goal and had six individual shot attempts.
Ovi’s first shot of the game, from 51 feet away, was clocked going 98 MPH, per Alan May on the Monumental Sports Network telecast.
Ovi’s third shot, a booming drive on a Capitals power play, was just as heavy, appearing to injure Connor Ingram after striking the Utah Hockey Club goaltender up high. Pierre-Luc Dubois would go on to pot the rebound, narrowing Utah’s lead to 3-2.
Ingram bent over in pain as the Capitals celebrated their goal. Ovechkin’s shot hit him high in the chest, near the clavicle and throat.
The 27-year-old netminder left the game under his own power after playing only 12:38 in net. He yielded the goal to Karel Vejmelka, who played the day before and surrendered six goals to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Shortly after, Utah announced that Ingram would not return due to an upper-body injury.
INJURY UPDATE @utahhockeyclub goaltender Connor Ingram is not expected to return to today’s game (upper body)
— Utah Hockey Club PR (@UtahHC_PR) February 9, 2025
“He’s hurt,” head coach Andre Tourigny said postgame. “No, I don’t know what his status is at this point. He will be evaluated, but we’ll see.”
Ingram is not the first goaltender or player to feel the incredible power in Ovechkin’s shot.
A sampling:
Alex Tanguay Hit in the Face by Alex Ovechkin Slap Shot, Taken to Hospital For Jaw Injury
Ovi has also injured his own goaltenders with friendly fire during practice, including Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.
“I remember this one time he told me to get in the crease so he could practice his one-timers,” Vanecek said in 2019. “I said, ‘Yeah, awesome.’ I went there, he shot three pucks at me, the fourth one hit my head and I couldn’t chew for the rest of the day. My jaw was done.”
Braden Holtby also once told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that Ovechkin “rarely uncorks a one-timer at full speed in practice” because he doesn’t want to hurt anyone.
“Oh, we’ve had our run-ins in the past,” Holtby added. “I think that’s why he doesn’t do that too often anymore. I think he realizes how powerful it is and how dangerous it can be when your own teammate is in there.”
Ovechkin has one of the hardest shots in the NHL. In 2018, he won the All-Stars Skills Hardest Shot competition handily with a 101.3 mph slap shot. His boomerang-like blade also allows the puck to ramp up quickly, especially on one-timers.
