A Washington Capitals informal skate on Monday took a worrisome turn when superstar Alex Ovechkin appeared to sustain a scary-looking injury.
According to reporters in attendance, the 33-year-old was participating in a scrimmage when he fell awkwardly and yelled out. He was helped off the ice by his teammates, not putting any weight on his left leg.
Alex Ovechkin just went down during the #Caps’ informal skate and appeared to be in a lot discomfort. He was not putting any weight on his left leg as teammates helped him to the dressing room.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 9, 2019
But as Ovechkin said famously in 2006, "Russian machine never breaks."
Minutes later — literally, minutes later — Ovechkin made his way back out onto the ice and rejoined the scrimmage as if nothing happened.
Ovechkin scare over. Here he is skating pic.twitter.com/zySTfV4lEs
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 9, 2019
Following a conditioning skate, Ovechkin said he was fine and had also fallen off his bike the night before, as per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.
Just checked with Ovechkin after he came off the ice. He’s says his leg is “okay”...which is better than his nose, chin and eyebrow, which he injured in a bicycle accident last night. “Shit happens,” he cracked. #Caps pic.twitter.com/yi4tiStDDt
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 9, 2019
The Russian winger is coming off a 51-goal season in which he won his eighth Rocket Richard trophy and hit 50 goals for the eighth time in his career. In 14 seasons, he's registered 658 goals, the most among active NHL players and 13th-most in NHL history. With at least 42 goals this season, he could hit the 700-goal mark, and if he manages another 50-goal campaign, he could tie former Capitals winger Mike Gartner for seventh on the all-time goal list.