Ovechkin could return to the Capitals at the Maple Leafs on Saturday

ARLINGTON, Va. — Alex Ovechkin could resume his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL scoring record when the Washington Capitals visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, NHLN, MNMT2).

It would be Ovechkin’s first game since the Capitals forward broke his left fibula in a collision with Utah Hockey Club forward Jack McBain during a 6-2 win on November 18.

On Friday, the 39-year-old took part in his first full practice with Washington since being injured.

“We’ll see,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said of Ovechkin’s status for Saturday. “Things are going in the right direction … Another step for the ‘O’. I can’t say he’s in the lineup tomorrow. We’ll have to wait and see how he reacts in practice today and then we’ll know tomorrow morning.

“We had this circle coming out of the break. Knowing he wasn’t going to play the LA (Kings) game (on Sunday) and the Boston (Bruins) game (on Monday), this practice was circled for a full-contact, drills where there are nine, 10 players moving around. So when he participated in that, we knew this was going to be a big box for him to check on the way back.”

Washington (23-9-2) is 10-5-1 in 16 games without Ovechkin. He led the NHL with 15 goals in 18 games before getting injured, increasing his career total to 868 to move within 27 goals of breaking Gretzky’s league record of 894.

“It’s unbelievable the magnitude of what’s happening with us, and then you see him just rolling in and having fun like a kid going out at halftime,” Capitals defenseman John Carlson said. “It’s a fun feeling. It’s fun for me. I’m sure the young guys who haven’t been in the NHL too long, their heads are spinning when he’s in the room and it’s great. It is great to have around. It’s a big achievement he’s chasing and he has his biggest fans by his side.

“You can’t replace him. You can’t replace his personality, you can’t replace his presence, all of that. His ability on the ice, his scoring, there’s no one like him. I’ve played with a lot of guys. There’s not one person like him.

Washington announced on November 20 that Ovechkin was expected to miss 4–6 weeks, and he resumed light skating on December 2. Ovechkin rejoined the Capitals in a non-contact jersey for their morning skate prior to a 4–2 win against the Buffalo Sabers on December 14 and was cleared for contact for their morning skate prior to a 3–1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on the 20th. December.

With no full practice scheduled between then and the NHL’s three-day vacation that began Tuesday, Washington decided to wait so he could practice Friday before deciding whether to play against the Maple Leafs.

Ovechkin skated Friday in his former spot on the Capitals’ top line with Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome, working with the first power-play unit.

This has been the longest absence of Ovechkin’s 20-season NHL career. His longest previous layoff was six games due to an upper-body injury from 4-14. November 2009.

“Obviously he was playing some of his best hockey right before the injury and he’s been working really hard every day since to get back as quickly as possible,” Washington forward Tom Wilson said. “When we get him back, it’s going to be a good day for the Caps. It’s always nice to have that firepower in your lineup and just brings a ton to the table. He’s our captain, so we wanted to try to pick some up. relax , while he was out, but it’s always better to have in the lineup.”

Although the Capitals lead the Eastern Conference with a .706 hitting percentage, their offensive production has slowed without Ovechkin. Washington led the NHL in scoring with 4.33 goals per game and was first in the league with 59 5-on-5 goals in 18 games before Ovechkin was injured. In 16 games without Ovechkin, the Capitals are tied with the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights for 18th in the NHL with a 2.94 goals per game average.

“I’ve talked about this a couple of times at different times when he was out of our lineup, that the scoring, and the lack of it at times, was noticeable,” Carbery said. “You can point to the fact that we’ve just gone back to means being the hot start we had, but I also think there’s a little bit of a piece there that when he’s on the ice and he’s on our bench and he takes shifts, there’s always the potential that he’s going to shoot a puck in the back of the net.”

Ovechkin has scored 44 goals in 60 career games against Toronto, including 24 in 29 games at Scotiabank Arena. If Ovechkin plays Saturday, Carlson wouldn’t be surprised if Ovechkin scores against the Maple Leafs again.

“It seems like in these big games all year, it doesn’t matter when it is, whether it’s the first game of the year, the 42nd game or the 35th game tomorrow,” Carlson said. “No matter what it is, he always seems to have a knack for scoring. In a big game, he’s going to score.”