Alex Ovechkin has been placed on injured reserve due to a lower left leg injury, which is expected to sideline him for at least three games, though he may miss more time following a collision with Jack McBain. This injury hampers his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record, as he is currently 27 goals away after scoring 15 times in his first 18 games this season. Ovechkin had been on pace to reach 895 goals by February and recently tied the NHL record by scoring against his 178th different goaltender.