Ovechkin To Miss Second Straight Game With Injury, Out For Capitals vs. Rangers

The Capitals captain was hurt on Jan. 5.

The Washington Capitals will be without the services of Alex Ovechkin for the second consecutive game on Sunday, as he will sit out the second half of the home-and-home with the New York Rangers due to a lower-body injury.

Head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters in New York on Sunday that the team will run with the same lineup and that Ovechkin will not play.

Ovechkin has been dealing with this injury since Jan. 5, when he collided with Jordan Staal late in the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes and took the brunt of the fall to the back of his left leg.

Though he played in two games following the injury, he missed four of five practices before ultimately sitting out Saturday's contest against the Rangers.

Washington beat New York 3-2, with Anthony Mantha, Nic Dowd and T.J. Oshie providing the offense for the Ovechkin-less Capitals. The team will have to rally once again without him in the lineup.

"Yeah, I think everybody's got no excuses. We all gotta pick up the slack somewhere," John Carlson said of Ovechkin's absence. "And I think sometimes that can galvanize a group a little bit just to fight for each other even that much more."

Ovechkin leads the team in scoring this season with eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 39 games, and he has points in his last six outings. Though goal scoring has been hard to come by, he has found other ways to contribute on the top-line left wing.

It is unclear what the timetable for Ovechkin is, but the team certainly will want him back sooner rather than later.