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Around the NHL: Alexander Ovechkin out week-to-week
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Nov 20, 2024, 16:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 20, 2024, 15:34 EST
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Alexander Ovechkin’s bid to pass Wayne Gretzky for all-time lead in goals will have to be halted for now.
On Monday evening, the Washington Capitals played the Utah Hockey Club. The game started off well for Ovechkin, who scored two goals to give him a league-leading 15 goals this season and 868 career goals, only 27 behind Gretzky.
Unfortunately, Jack McBain made contact with Oveckin’s lower leg, knocking him out of the game after the superstar winger struggled to get off the ice. The Capitals announced on Tuesday that Ovechkin is out week-to-week with a lower leg injury, not expanding further on what that means.
Despite being 39 years old, Ovechkin’s 15 goals through 18 games is the best he’s ever started in his career, surpassing the 14 goals he scored through 18 games in 2022, 2006, and 2010. Hopefully, he’s only out a few weeks and this injury doesn’t have any long-term effect because breaking Gretzky’s goal record of 894 would be pretty darn cool.

The Bruins fired Jim Montgomery

It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that the Boston Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery.
The Bruins haven’t played to their usual standards, as they have an 8-9-3 record for 19 points through 20 games and sit outside a Wild Card spot. However, since taking the reigns in 2022-23, Montgomery has a 120-41-23 record at the helm of the Bruins.
In his place, Joe Sacco will serve as the interim head coach. He has experience as a head coach of an NHL team before, as he served as the Colorado Avalanche head coach from 2009-10 until 2012-13, missing the postseason in his final three years. Sacco joined the Bruins as an assistant coach in 2014-15, and became the associate coach to begin the 2024-25 season.

J.T. Miller taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks will be without J.T. Miller for an indefinite amount of time, as the forward has been given a leave of absence due to personal reasons.
It’s unclear as to what’s going on, but Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali reported that his leave is just a player who needs a re-set.
It’s a big loss for the Canucks, as Miller is one of the team’s better players. Through 17 games this season with the Canucks, Miller has six goals and 16 points and is coming off a season where he scored a career-high 37 goals and 103 points in 81 games. Moreover, he had three goals and 12 points in 13 postseason games during the Canucks’ return to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2024.
Some things go beyond hockey, so nothing but the best for Miller and his family.

Oilers claim Kasperi Kapanen

On Tuesday, it was announced by the Edmonton Oilers that they claimed Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from the St. Louis Blues.
Kapanen was selected 22nd overall in the 2014 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins but was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the deal that brought Phil Kessel to the Penguins. Kapanen scored a career-high 20 goals and 44 points in 78 games back in 2018-19 but hasn’t reached that level of success since.
He returned to the Penguins in 2020-21, where he scored 30 points his first two seasons, before being traded to the Blues during the 2022-23 season. Last season in his first full season, he scored six goals and 22 points in 73 games, the worst season of his career. Moreover, he only scored once in 10 games with the Blues this season and is a -6.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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