Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was able to laugh off what initially appeared to be a serious injury during a scrimmage on Monday.
Ovechkin went down awkwardly and reportedly screamed in pain before leaving the ice without putting any weight on his left leg. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient was helped off the ice by teammates John Carlson, Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom.
Ovechkin, however, returned to the ice approximately 20 minutes later to resume skating.
Ovechkin, who turns 34 on Sept. 17, dismissed Monday’s events as a continuation of a bad start to his week.
“It’s OK,” he said, per NHL.com. “Last night I fell off my bike.”
Ovechkin will be heading into his 15th NHL season after collecting a league-leading 51 goals to go along with 38 assists in 81 games in 2018-19.
— Field Level Media
