Alex Ovechkin Injured, A Massive Blow For The Washington Capitals

By Jordan Long

The Washington Capitals are going to be in the NHL playoffs for the 8^th straight year.  They are the 2^nd Wild Card team and unless something changes in the next 3 games, they will be facing the Florida Panthers in the first-round.  They could be missing a key piece of their lineup, forward Alex Ovechkin.

            Ovechkin is the top player on their team.  He is the one who is dangerous to score, putting the puck in the back of the net 50 times this year.  Right now, that ranks 4^th in the NHL.  Auston Matthews leads the league with 58 goals. 

                Ovechkin also has great vision on the ice.  Sure he can use his speed to skate around a defensive player, but he can also find his teammates on the open ice.  Ovechkin will find them for them to score goals.  Ovechkin has 40 assists.  He is also used on the power play.  Ovechkin can light the lamp on the man advantage or pass it to a teammate when the goalie is out of position. Ovechkin totaled 16 power play goals and 13 power play assists.

                There is a reason to be concerned about the Washington Capitals going into the playoffs.  During last night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ovechkin left the game in the third period after crashing into the boards.  He was ruled out the rest of the game with an upper body injury. No word on what it was is or how long he will be out.  The NHL rarely gives out the information on what the injury really is. 

                According to ESPN, Capitals’ forward T.J. Oshie said, “I’ve never met anyone tougher than that guy. We all hope he’s fine. I just talked to him and I think he’ll be all right. It’s always scary seeing ‘Big 8’ go down and lay on the ice. He’s a tough guy. But if there was anyone I would imagine wouldn’t miss any more time than he needs to, it’d be ‘8.”’.

                The Capitals may start the postseason without Ovechkin.  That would be a blow to this team because he is one of their top goal scores.  If Ovechkin is out of the lineup, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, and Conor Sheary must step up their game.  None of them have the speed that Ovechkin has or puts up the same number of goals as him.  They all can shoot the puck in the back of the net.  It might be tough though to win a series without Ovechkin.  That all depends on if Ovechkin can play in the postseason which is about a week away.  The Capitals might be looking at a first-round exit without Ovechkin.