There may be no more valuable player in the NHL than Alex Ovechkin missed the Capitals' game against the Wild on March 5, but returned to the lineup against the Sabres on Saturday.

Continue for updates.

Ovechkin Returns vs. Sabres

Saturday, March 7

Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post provided the lines for the Capitals game against the Sabres:

Prewitt previously reported Ovechkin was a game-time decision:

Once again among the first Washington Capitals on the ice, forward Alex Ovechkin participated fully in Saturday’s optional morning skate but still considered himself a game-time decision for the night’s matchup against Buffalo.

“We’ll see,” Ovechkin said. “I’m probably going to take a warmup and we’ll see how it goes.”

[...]

“It was a pain, probably if it was a playoff game, I would be in,” he said. “Right now, you don’t want to push when you don’t feel healthy enough. Right now I feel much better so I’m going to try.

The team's PR department announced on Twitter that Ovechkin would miss Thursday's game against the Minnesota Wild as he deals with a lower-body injury. 

The 29-year-old forward has been one of the league's most dynamic players since breaking in during the 2005-06 campaign. He has scored 50 or more goals in a season on five occasions and is a three-time Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's MVP.

Since the Caps tend to go as Ovechkin goes, there is understandably some concern in the nation's capital regarding Washington's ability to remain competitive without him. They are currently 35-20-10 and in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. Ovechkin's 67 points (including 43 goals) is tied for most in the league.

While Ovechkin is prone to lapses defensively, his offensive impact cannot be understated. When The Great Eight is locked in, he is the type of player who is capable of essentially winning games on his own. This tweet courtesy of Prewitt perfectly encapsulates that notion:

The dominant winger is a force to be reckoned with at all times, but he is especially dangerous when the Capitals have a man advantage. Remarkably, he has scored 20 or more power-play goals in three different seasons, and this graph courtesy of TSN's Travis Yost shows how that compares to the rest of the league:

There's no doubt it will be difficult for the Capitals to thrive without their captain and best player in the lineup, but it sounds as though he won't miss too much time.

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