Doctor On Social Media Speculates Ovechkin Could Be Out With Possible MCL Injury

Update: The Washington Capitals announced Alex Ovechkin is week-to-week with a lower leg injury and will have further evaluation with team physicians on Wednesday, the team announced Tuesday.

I’m not a doctor. Nor do I play one on Twitter.

But Dr. Harjas Grewal, who happens to be a family practitioner based in Richmond, B.C., as well as a hockey fan who tweets about NHL injuries, is both.

According to Dr. Grewal, the footage of Alex Ovechkin leaving Monday's 6-2 win against Utah after a knee-on-knee collision with Jack McBain did not look particularly good.

“Concern is an MCL injury for Ovechkin,” Dr. Grewal posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Time off depends on grade, and although it is hard to gauge grade by video, there wasn’t an extreme amount of inward stress so hopefully grade 1 or 2 and max four to six weeks out. Will add that a torn ACL is also possible but highly unlikely (in my opinion).”

And with that, Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record may have took a turn for the worse. The way it had been looking, Ovechkin was going to pass The Great One's NHL record of 894 before the end of the season.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters in Salt Lake City that Ovechkin is currently being evaluated and did not have an update on the severity of the 39-year-old's injury.

As well, The Hockey News' Capitals reporter, Sammi Silber, reminded hockey fans, "It is not possible to diagnose an orthopedic injury off a 10-second clip."

That's very true. However, if Dr. Grewal’s assessment is correct, then the chances of Ovechkin becoming the all-time scoring leader this season could be a challenge.

“Yeah that sucks. I mean hate to see it, he’s been absolutely on fire and he’s huge for our team," Capitals center Nic Dowd told reporters. "He’s our captain – you got to score goals to win games. He’s been playing incredible hockey. You hate to see it.”

Ovechkin, who had a hat trick against Vegas on Sunday, had scored twice against Utah before leaving the game in the third period after colliding with McBain. With 868 career goals, the 39-year-old is now only 27 goals away from surpassing Gretzky's record.

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

If Ovechkin were to miss six weeks, it would take him to the end of December, representing 19 games. That would leave the Capitals right winger with about 45 games to score 27 goals.

It wouldn't be easy. But based on the current pace Ovechkin was on — having scored 15 goals in 18 games this season — it wouldn't be impossible. At his rate, he would only need 33 games to score 27 goals.

Of course, keeping up a pace of 0.83 goals per game will be difficult — even for a sniper like Ovechkin.

What do you think? Can Ovechkin still overtake Gretzky's record this season? Share your thoughts in the comments below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum.