Ovechkin Misses Capitals Morning Skate In Vegas For Maintenance

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is not taking part in the team's morning skate ahead of Saturday's tilt with the Vegas Golden Knights. The team says the absence is due to maintenance.

It does not appear that Ovechkin will sit out against Vegas.

Ovechkin has points in three of his last four games and eight goals and three assists in his last 11 outings overall. He has not missed a game this season and leads the team with 30 goals and 22 assists for 52 points.

The 37-year-old is set to participate in the upcoming NHL All-Star Weekend from Feb. 3-4 in South Florida as the Capitals' lone representative this year. He missed last year due to testing positive for COVID-19, and he elected to sit out the prior two seasons in order to rest his body and start to prepare for the playoff push in the second half.

Ovechkin currently sits at 810 career goals and sits 85 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record.

Washington is in its second game of a three-game road swing and is coming off an impressive 4-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes that saw the Capitals do all the right things. It hasn't been the best start to January, but they are hoping to build off that victory.