Capitals Confirm That Alex Ovechkin Is Out 4 To 6 Weeks With Fractured Fibula

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is just 27 goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goal-scoring record, but that chase hit a snag when he exited Monday night's game against the Utah Hockey Club with an apparent leg injury.

Now, we know what the issue is and how long the Great 8 will be out of commission.

Ovechkin was in the middle of a two-goal game — which gave him 5 goals in two games — when he collided with Utah's Jack McBain.

It was clearly an accident, and Ovechkin doesn't go down like that easily so you know it's bad times.

It looked like it was a knee injury that Ovie was dealing with but on Thursday evening, the Capitals announced that the Russian superstar will be out for four to six weeks with a fractured fibula.

This is obviously a major loss for the Capitals who have had a first quarter of the season. Soldiering on for a month and a half without their captain and leading scorer will be a big ask.

But what everyone will want to know is how this affects Ovechkin's pursuit of Gretzky's record.

At this point, I don't think there's any doubt that he'll get it done, but doing it this season got much tougher.

Missing four to six weeks means that Ovechkin is looking at getting back in the lineup at some point between Christmas and the early part of next year. Of course, he'll be missing a big chunk of games, but once he does rejoin the lineup, will he be scoring at the pace that he was before the injury, which was one of the best paces of his career?

Who knows? You'd think that at 39 years old that would be a big no, but Ovechkin is a freak of nature. This is the guy who houses a Subway sandwich and bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and then goes out and scores. 

I think he can certainly do it.