Ovechkin ‘week-to-week’ as leg injury delays chase of Gretzky’s goals mark

Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record is on hold.

The Washington Capitals said Tuesday the long-time captain is “week-to-week” with a lower leg injury suffered In Monday’s win against the Utah Hockey Club.

Ovechkin will be evaluated by team doctors on Wednesday after a day off on Tuesday.

The injury occurred five minutes into the third period of Monday’s game when Ovechkin collided with Utah center Jack McBain.

Ovechkin’s knee smacked into McBain’s, sending the Russian to the ice in obvious pain. A teammate helped Ovechkin to the bench, but he did not return to the game and limped to the locker room moments later.

The 39-year-old winger leads the NHL in goals this season, lighting the lamp a career-best 15 times in his first 18 games. Ovechkin scored five goals in his last two appearances before an injury caused him to miss the last five minutes of Tuesday’s game.

“He’s our leader. It’s tough to see him go down. … He’s a guy that’s doing it all right now and not just scoring,” Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren said Monday. “He’s a captain for a reason.”

The injury will likely delay Ovechkin’s widely followed pursuit of Gretzky’s record 849 goals. He trails “The Great One” by 26 goals with 64 games remaining in the season. Before the injury, Ovechkin’s hot start put him on pace to break the record by the end of February.

If the “Great Eight” scores 27 goals in his next 42 games, he would set the NHL goals record in one fewer game than his Canadian predecessor.

The three-time MVP has left some teammates awestruck with his sweltering start.

“It’s beyond impressive what he does. When it rains, it pours for him. I mean, it truly does,” Lindgren said. “He finds ways to get to scoring areas and when he does and the puck is on his stick, he usually doesn’t miss.”

Led by Ovechkin, the Capitals have scored an NHL-best 78 goals as they’ve skated to the top of the Metropolitan Division. With 13 wins in 18 games, Washington’s .750 points percentage ranks second in the Eastern Conference.

Each game brings new records for Ovechkin, who has already established himself as a sure-fire Hall of Famer when he hangs up his skates.

By sliding a shot past Utah goalie Connor Ingram on Monday night, Washington’s captain tied an NHL record by scoring against 178 different netminders. When he scored another goal in the second period, he joined Sidney Crosby as the only other player to record multi-goal games against 30 different NHL franchises.

The injury was the lone blemish on Washington’s three-game trip to the West Coast, which saw the Capitals add dominant wins over Utah, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche.

“It [stinks],” Capitals forward Nic Dowd told reporters. “Hate to see it. He’s been absolutely on fire and he’s huge for our team. He’s our captain. You’ve got to score goals to win games. He’s been playing incredible hockey, so, yeah, I hate to see it.”

The Capitals return to the ice for practice on Wednesday — likely without Ovechkin. They’ll then face the Avalanche at Captial One Arena on Thursday. The Capitals have another home game on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils before heading to Florida for matchups with the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning next week.

It’s too soon to tell whether Ovechkin will join the team on their next road trip, but Capitals coach Spencer Carbery is optimistic.

“He’s been phenomenal this year, leading the charge and our team, not only from a leadership standpoint and in the locker room but on the ice as well,” he said. “In times where you need these types of games, you need guys to step up and score or make a big play, he’s continued to do that.”