Alex Ovechkin made his long-awaited return to the ice Tuesday in the Washington Capitals’ regular season finale against the Boston Bruins. Ovechkin had 19 minutes of ice time and four shots on goal in the 2-1 win for the Capitals.
Before his return against the Bruins, Ovechkin missed seven games with a lower body injury.
“Right now, I’m 100 percent,” Ovechkin proclaimed, per Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. “I didn’t feel any soreness. I feel comfortable. That’s the most important thing. This time of year, you have to be smart and you have to think about the future, not only regular season.”
Ovechkin appeared to suffer the injury late during an Apr. 22 game against the New York Rangers. He was held out the four games that followed before giving it a try on May 3 against the Rangers. However, his return was cut short after just one 39-second shift.
“I feel great. The trainers, all the staff did a great job. It was a battle, a battle through that. I tried to play in New York, but I didn’t feel comfortable and, obviously, we don’t want to make a risk and that was a smart move,” Ovechkin said, per Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic.
Washington aired on precaution with the postseason approaching. Thus, Ovechkin missed the next three games.
The Capitals open their first-round playoffs series against the Boston on Saturday at Capital One Arena. Washington will be looking to win their first playoff series since their 2018 Stanley Cup championship. They’ll get a boost by getting back their leading goal scorer in Ovechkin.
In 45 games, he tallied 24 goals with 18 assists this season.
