Capitals star Alex Ovechkin will be away from the team for an unspecified amount of time as he attends to a family matter and the health of a loved one.
Coach Peter Laviolette said Ovechkin — Washington’s leading scorer who has 32 goals this season — would be gone from the Capitals for at least the next week. That means the Russian not only will miss Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, but also Thursday’s matchup against the Florida Panthers and Saturday’s Stadium Series outdoor game in Raleigh.
“I don’t see him back in the foreseeable future,” Laviolette said.
Laviolette did not specify whether Ovechkin planned on flying to Russia for the matter. As of Tuesday morning, Ovechkin still made an appearance at the team’s practice facility in Arlington, Virginia as he addressed teammates before leaving.
But Ovechkin’s departure is another blow for a Capitals team that has been inconsistent amid a revolving door of injuries and absences. After a slow start to the season, the Capitals surged up the standings in December by going 11-2-2. But they’ve struggled again since then, failing to win consecutive games all of January. Entering Tuesday’s action, the Capitals are 28-21-6 with 62 points and are holding on to one of two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.
“First of all the most important thing is family, right?” teammate Nicklas Backstrom said. “I understand what Ovi’s going through but I think for us as a team we’re all aware of the situation and we’re in a tough stretch here coming up here so teams are winning so we have to do that, too. We gotta chip in for each other and make sure we really start playing as a team here.”
Neither Laiviolette nor Backstrom elaborated on the family matter that Ovechkin is dealing with.
“Listen, it’s tough sometimes,” Laviolette said. “Life is tough. When it comes to your family and parents, that’s what matters. He’s going to deal with some things right now and we’re going to be supportive.”
To replace Ovechkin, the Capitals called up forward Joe Snively from the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. Snively has appeared in only six games for Washington this season after playing in 12 games last year. But the 27-year-old was among the team’s extra skaters in Tuesday’s morning skate, while Aliaksei Protas (three goals, seven assists) filled in Ovechkin’s left wing spot on the top line.
Since the 2021-22 season, the Capitals have struggled mightly without Ovechkin as they’ve gone just 1-5 in such outings. The 38-year-old has missed only one game this year — a 6-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 21 — with a lower-body injury. Over Ovechkin’s 18-year career, the Capitals are 23-21-4 in games without the Russian.
Ovechkin previously took a leave of absence from the Capitals in 2008 to visit his ailing grandfather in Russia.
“It’s different when you lose really any player for injury as opposed to a family matter, and especially the big man, who’s created a lot of success not only for the organization but for individuals in the room, me being definitely one of them.” winger T.J. Oshie said. “You play a little bit harder in moments like this.”
