Alex Ovechkin hunting record but Caps struggling as Blackhawks visit

All eyes will be on Alex Ovechkin on Friday as the Washington Capitals forward closes in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, but there are other concerns about the Eastern Conference leaders heading into their home game against the Chicago Blackhawks that night.

That includes the health of goalie Logan Thompson, who was pulled after the first period in Wednesday’s 5-1 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The team said during the game that Thompson, 28, was doubtful to return because of an upper-body injury. After the game, coach Spencer Carbery said the netminder, who has 31 wins in 43 starts, would be re-evaluated when the Capitals (48-18-9, 105 points) returned home.

No update was available as of Thursday afternoon.

Despite its position atop the conference, Washington has lost four of its last five games.

“I don’t want to say we was not ready, but (Carolina) just put it back in and try to win the battle and try to shoot with everything what they can,” Ovechkin said after Wednesday’s loss. “I don’t know, maybe it’s just back-to-back (games), but as I said in the second period, we understood what we had to do, you know. We pushed but only scored one goal.”

Ovechkin scored Washington’s only goal in the loss, which came on the heels of a 4-3 win in Boston on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old has scored in three straight contests and four of the last five. He stands at 892 goals for his career, two away from tying Gretzky’s mark.

Ovechkin has seven games remaining to break the record this season. In 59 games this season, Ovechkin has scored two or more five times, including a pair of hat tricks.

The Capitals have a nine-point lead over the Hurricanes for the best record in the Eastern Conference and are just a point back of the Winnipeg Jets for the best record overall.

The Blackhawks (21-44-10, 52 points) sit next to last in the Western Conference, just two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks, who own the league’s worst record. The young Chicago squad — 14 players on the roster are 23 or younger — is 1-9-2 in its last 12 games.

Chicago was mere seconds away Wednesday from pulling out a home victory over the Colorado Avalanche, a team many believe may play for the Stanley Cup in June. However, the Blackhawks allowed the game-tying goal with 11 seconds left and were left to settle for just a point in a 3-2 shootout loss.

Interim coach Anders Sorensen called the team’s fourth consecutive defeat “a learning experience,” but second-year forward Connor Bedard seemed more frustrated about giving Colorado too many scoring chances.

“They’re a really good team,” Bedard said about Colorado. “Like I said, they’re going to get their looks, and sometimes it’s going to happen. I think just when you get a chance to get (the puck) out or whatever, obviously you have to. That’s very magnified with teams like this.”

Bedard, 19, leads the team with 59 points (20 goals, 39 assists) and has points in four of his last five games. He was the first pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and born 13 months after Washington made Ovechkin the top pick in the 2004 draft.

–Field Level Media