Ovechkin rested, ready for Capitals to resume playoff chase
ARLINGTON, Va. — Alex Ovechkin He took benefit of the Washington Capitals’ break for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 to calm down along with his household and associates on trip in Dubai and take a bodily and psychological respite from hockey.
“You have to enjoy your time, spend time with the family,” the Capitals captain informed NHL.com on Thursday. “Don’t think about hockey.”
So, no, Ovechkin did not come again to Washington with a choice on his future past this season. Ovechkin, the NHL file holder with 919 regular-season objectives, is within the remaining season of the five-year, $47.5 million contract he signed in 2021, main to a lot hypothesis about whether or not this may even be his final season within the NHL.
“No, I don’t know yet,” Ovechkin stated. “We have to decide. We have to speak with the household, with (Capitals proprietor) Ted (Leonsis), [general manager Chris Patrick]after which we’ll see.”
Ovechkin stated that call “probably” will not be made till after the season. The 40-year-old’s focus is on the Capitals’ remaining 23 video games of the common season, starting in opposition to the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7 pm ET; MNMT, NBCSP), and serving to them qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ovechkin is aware of it will not be simple. Washington (29-23-7) trails the Boston Bruins by 4 factors for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference and can be 4 factors behind the New York Islanders for third within the Metropolitan Division.
“We’re going to have to win almost every game to make the playoffs,” Ovechkin stated.
The Capitals picked up their play earlier than the break, profitable 4 of their remaining 5 video games. But that surge adopted a 24-game stretch after they went 7-13-4 to fall from first within the Metropolitan Division to exterior the playoff image, leaving them with a slim margin of error for the rest of the season.
“We were in that position that we can’t lose the games,” Ovechkin stated. “You can see how we performed in opposition to Nashville (4-2 win on Feb. 5) and the way we performed in opposition to the Islanders (4-1 win on Feb. 2), all people was dialed in. Of course, generally you get that fatigue that you simply’re form of drained, drained about video games, and also you simply need to get nearer to the break and [rest].
“But you can see all the guys put everything that they can to get the points and we’re still in a battle.”
Ovechkin says his season individually has been comparable to the Capitals enjoying as a group, with “ups and downs.”
When Ovechkin scored 44 objectives in 65 video games final season regardless of lacking 16 video games with a fractured left fibula, he was remarkably constant and didn’t go greater than three video games with out scoring a objective. The spotlight second was Ovechkin scoring his 895th objective on April 6 in opposition to the New York Islanders to surpass Wayne Gretzky (894) for essentially the most in League historical past. But the Capitals additionally thrived as a group, ending first within the Eastern Conference with 111 factors (51-22-9).
Like the Capitals, Ovechkin has been extra streaky this season.
Although he’s second on the Capitals with 22 objectives and 48 factors in 59 video games (one behind Tom Wilson for the group lead in every), he did not rating a objective in his remaining 5 video games earlier than the break. Ovechkin has simply two objectives in his previous 13 video games following a four-game stretch when he scored 5 objectives, which was preceded by a 14-game stretch when he scored just one objective.
“It’s how I said, we have ups and downs,” he stated. “It’s not about me. You can see everybody was maybe a little struggling because last year, we scored like five, six goals in a game and it was easy. Right now, it’s a kind of a struggling to find a way to find the net and I hope this break is going to help us, and now we’re going to play much better.”
