Alex Ovechkin, eager to return from injury, has tried hard to remain part of the Capitals’ culture during his absence: “I could see him in the shower, trying to listen to what was going on.”

Alex Ovechkin is one of the greatest players of all time. Blessed with one of the hardest, most accurate shots in NHL history, his success over the last 20 seasons is due in part to his talent, athletic ability and perseverance. The other part of the equation is more innate and harder to diagnose and involves traits like heart, dedication and competitiveness.

But as Ovechkin recovers from the worst injury of his career, those personal qualities have come to the fore, sometimes a bit cocky and ridiculous, as he makes a less-than-typical return to action.

On Friday morning at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, Ovechkin battled with linemates Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas for the first time since breaking his fibula on Nov. 18, suggesting that if everything feels good on Saturday, Ovechkin will return later against the Toronto Maple Leafs could be night. Ovechkin has missed 16 straight games — five weeks long — making it the most games he has missed consecutively in his career.

As a power forward in arguably the most physically demanding sport, Ovechkin did not practice in 51 of a possible 1,519 games due to injury. break only a staggering 3.4 percent of the time. However, that means sitting out, especially for so long, is foreign to the Capitals captain. While players who suffer serious injuries typically don’t spend as much time on the road or around their team, Ovechkin did the exact opposite during his rehab, according to Tom Wilson.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Wilson said. “You would always see him standing around the corner, smiling, listening to a pre-game speech, or when the boys were doing something before or after the game, he would hang around and not want to miss anything. So it’s pretty remarkable. He just loves coming to the rink, he put in a lot of time and effort and was there for everyone. Even though he was outside, he continued to help us.

“It’s funny – he just loves being at the rink, so he brought his kid with him with his gold chain all the time,” Wilson continued. “We were doing something funny the other day before the game and I could see him in the shower trying to listen to what was going on because normally when you’re not playing you’re supposed to kind of stay away from the team, but as Captain and as someone who is a lot of fun here, he was never too far. He also did a lot of road trips.”

After his leg injury, Ovechkin returned to the public eye shortly afterwards. Four days after his injury, he attended a Washington Wizards game without braces or crutches and a day later watched the Capitals practice from the bench. He traveled with the Capitals during their mentorship trip Nov. 25-27 and brought his father-in-law, Kirill Shubsky, with him. During those games, Ovechkin was particularly noticeable, cheering on his teammates from the tunnel and excitedly giving them a high-five as they headed back to the locker room. Ovechkin, along with his son Sergei, presented the team’s new player of the game award, a colorful gold chain, in Tampa Bay.

“It was his idea,” Wilson said. “I don’t know where he got it from, but I think maybe we just don’t ask.”

Ovechkin’s healing appeared to occur quickly. He began skating again two weeks after his injury and later trained with former centerman Nicklas Backstrom. Ovi traveled to the away games of the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks in mid-December. When the Capitals returned home before the holiday break, Ovechkin returned to the team in a non-contact jersey. He regularly attended home games for which he was not dressed, and recently stayed after practice to play hockey with other players’ children at the team’s family skate event.

“I even notice it,” Carbery said of how often Ovechkin is still there. “I mean, as involved as he is (still), I notice the gap sometimes because he’s so involved all the time when he’s in the lineup, when he’s playing games and when he’s warming up and just everything belongs.” personality and his energy and enthusiasm, not just for the game but for life in general. So he’s still very committed, but even on game days I notice it. There are morning skates in the hallway, they are welcome so he can join in again.”

With an incredible 15 goals in his first 18 games of the season, Ovechkin was at the top of the NHL standings at the age of 39 and was not only on pace to break Wayne Gretkzy’s scoring record in the 2024-25 season, but also managed to do so in the Mid-season. Ovechkin’s discovery of the fountain of youth coincided with the Capitals being the hottest team in the league for a third of the season after Brian MacLellan and Chris Patrick reformed the team in the summer.

To keep the good times rolling, Ovechkin tried to remain patient despite the reality of a broken bone. The legendary winger did not blame the coaches for his return, but the team’s coach was forced to curb Ovechkin’s enthusiasm and manage the winger’s expectations.

“Jason Serbus probably gets a little bit of that (from Ovechkin),” Carbery said with a laugh. “Like, ‘I’m ready, I’m ready. I feel good, I feel good.’ And the Serbs need to talk him down a little, for example: “This is a process.” Slow down. “We have to make sure the pictures look good.” Because he is such a competitor, he wants to get back in the lineup and play games. And the moment he feels like, “Oh, I think it’s pretty good,” but there’s a lot more to it than just making sure everything heals. We want to make sure he is 100% fit.”

With Ovechkin out, the Capitals continued to win, posting a 10-5-1 record in 16 games. They set a new franchise record for consecutive road wins, 10, despite Ovechkin missing the final six road games of the series.

However, the team’s offense began to falter. With Ovechkin in the lineup, the Capitals led the league at 4.13 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five. His absence over the last month has seen them plummet to 31st in the league, scoring just 1.96 goals per 60 minutes.”

“I was happy overall,” Carbery said of the team’s play without Ovechkin. “I felt like at the beginning of his absence, it took us a little bit to – I don’t know if you’re comfortable with this, but I really understand, ‘Okay, what’s this going to look like without him?’ and a combination of those things. At the beginning I felt like we needed a few games, but then I thought we played pretty solid.

“I have to say that I – I don’t know if it’s because O left – I’ve spoken a few times about the fact that he was missing from our squad at various times, that the points and the lack of them were noticeable at times . You could point to the fact that we’ve just gotten back to the mean of the hot start that we had, but I also think there’s a small part of that that when he’s on the ice and he’s on our bench, and he switches, there’s always a chance he’ll shoot a puck into the net. And I think that as a teammate, a linemate, someone who plays for the Washington Capitals, you feel good. Yourself, you know? Because you always feel like he’s going to find a way to score that night.”