ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Washington Capitals put Alex Ovechkin on injured reserve Wednesday and recalled fellow Russian winger Ivan Miroshnichenko from the minors.
Ovechkin, 39, is considered week-to-week with a lower left leg injury. Going on IR rules out Ovechkin for at least the next three games.
But he is expected to miss significantly more time after his shin-on-shin collision with Utah's Jack McBain on Monday night.
Ovechkin's absence slows his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record. He's 27 back of passing Gretzky after scoring 15 times in his first 18 games this season.
The Russian winger was on pace to get to 895 sometime in February before going down in the third period at Utah. Earlier that game, he tied the NHL record by scoring on his 178th different goaltender.
In addition to putting Ovechkin on IR, Washington is putting winger Sonny Milano on long-term injured reserve. Milano has been out with an undisclosed upper-body injury.