Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters on Monday that he expects superstar Alex Ovechkin to be ready to go for the opening game of his 21st NHL season on Oct. 8.
Ovechkin missed a week of training camp with a lower-body injury, but the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer was back at full-contact practice on Monday for the first time since camp opened Sept. 18 — the day after he turned 40. He left that practice soon after it began.
“I think so,” Carbery said about whether the Russian legend will lace up the skates on opening night. “He’s missed a significant amount of camp, but I know he’s been training and skating and trying to do everything he possibly can at 40 years old to make sure that he’s ready for opening night next Wednesday. So, I would expect (he’ll be ready), but he’s missed a lot, so hopefully, this last little nine days he can get as close to top form as possible.”
At Monday’s hour-long practice, Ovechkin worked with the first power-play unit and skated at left wing on a line with Dylan Strome and Anthony Beauvillier and was in good spirits afterward.
“It feels good,” Ovechkin said. “Obviously, I need more touches, more ice time with the boys because, obviously, that week that I missed kind of hit me a little bit. But overall, I’ll take it.”
As for whether Ovechkin will take part in any preseason games, Carbery said he didn’t expect him to play Tuesday at the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, the future Hall of Famer may suit up for home games on Thursday against the Boston Bruins and Saturday against the Blue Jackets.
“Looked good,” Carbery said. “Did a lot of power-play stuff today but also some line rushes and that, so he was moving around well. No setbacks, so that’s a positive step in the right direction. We’ll see where it goes from a playing games (perspective).”
Ovechkin has scored 1,623 points (897 goals, 726 assists) in 1,491 games with the Capitals since making his debut in 2005.
