Star forward Alexander Ovechkin will return to action against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, announced Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery.
The 39-year-old veteran suffered a fractured fibula on Nov. 18 after knee-to-knee contact in a 6-2 win over Utah. He missed 16 games due to this injury.
He scored two goals before leaving the game in the third period. This double allowed him to bring his total to 15 goals in 18 duels this season.
Saturday night, Ovechkin will restart his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history. Ovi now has 868 goals, just 26 short of Gretzky’s record of 894 goals.
Ovechkin was producing at a rate that allowed him to threaten Gretzkt’s record in March or April.
Matthews in training
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews skated in a gray extra-player jersey Saturday during an optional practice before the Leafs’ game against the Washington Capitals.
Matthews has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury, the same one that forced him to sit out last month and sent him to Germany for treatment. He missed nine games between November 3 and 30.
The 27-year-old last played a week ago against the Buffalo Sabres, but missed two games before the Christmas break, as well as Friday’s victory against the Detroit Red Wings.
Matthews has scored 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games this season after recording career highs of 69 goals and 107 points in 81 games last season.
Reinforcement in Ottawa
The Ottawa Senators recalled defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo on Saturday, according to Julian McKenzie of The Athletic.
Matinpalo, 26, made his NHL debut and played four games with the Senators last season, where he didn’t record a point.
In 23 games with the Belleville Senators this season, the native of Espoo, Finland, scored two goals and seven points.
Ottawa will face the Winnipeg Jets in its first game back after the Christmas break on Saturday. The Sens signed eight victories in ten games before the break.
