The Capitals captain has not played since suffering the injury during a collision with Jack McBain of the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18. At that time, Ovechkin was leading the NHL in goals with 15. As he returns, he sits nine goals behind league leader Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.

Now, things get a bit more challenging if Ovechkin plans to make history in 2024-25. He currently stands at 868 career goals, leaving him with 27 to go in order to slide into clai

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is closing in on the NHL career goals record of 894 held by Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin has 868 goals after scoring 15 in the first 18 games this season. He needs 27 to set a new record.