Hockey Night’s Take 5

1. Caps mum on Ovechkin status

Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals were not forthcoming as to the seriousness of his upper-body injury suffered on Sunday, when he nailed Columbus forward Jason Chimera(notes) in the second period and then appeared to hurt himself in the ensuing scrum. The Capitals stated that there will be no update on the superstar’s condition until their next practice on Tuesday.

Ovechkin, off to a blazing start with 14 goals and 23 points in 14 games, remarked that he is day-to-day. He has missed only four games in his career. One due to a groin injury, one with a bruised heel and two to visit his ailing grandfather back in Russia a year ago. Washington’s next game is in New Jersey on Wednesday.

2. Bench dangerous for May

Detroit veteran Brad May(notes) will miss some time, but is okay after a bizarre incident on Saturday, when late in the Red Wings 3-1 win against Calgary, he was accidentally high-sticked on the bench by teammate Jason Williams(notes). May spent the night in a Calgary hospital, but flew home on Sunday to spend time with his family. He suffered what is referred to as hyphema (blood in the eye), but his vision is expected to return to normal.

3. Scouts not giving up on Forsberg

Several NHL scouts will make their way to Helsinki and Jonkoping, Sweden, later this week to watch Peter Forsberg(notes) give his troublesome right foot a test when he rejoins the Swedish national team for the Karjala Cup, an international tournament that includes teams from Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden. The 36-year-old Forsberg has played only 22 games in the past three seasons due to his foot problems, but he looked good earlier this year with his Modo team, scoring three times in three games. Sweden opens the tournament against the Czechs in Jonkoping on Thursday.

4. Comebacks and climbers in October

The first month of the young NHL season produced some surprising results and no-lead-is-safe games. In 22 of the 190 games in October, a team that trailed two-or-more goals stormed back for a win, including Chicago’s remarkable 6-5 victory against Calgary after falling behind 5-0. Also, six times games were tied in the final 30 seconds or regulation time. A glance at the standings show that in the early going, five clubs that missed the playoffs last spring are among the top eight in the conference standings after the first 32 days of the regular season. They include: Colorado, Dallas, Los Angeles and Phoenix in the West, Ottawa in the East.

5. Leaf connections aplenty behind the bench

Current and former Maple Leafs coaches are steering struggling teams these days. Of course, Ron Wilson’s Toronto squad is in 30th place at 1-7-4. Under Paul Maurice, Carolina has dropped nine in a row to fall into 29th spot. Pat Quinn and Edmonton have dropped four of the past five games and were shutout three times in this stretch. With the exception of Randy Carlyle in Anaheim, it’s a different story for the former Toronto players currently coaching in the NHL. John Anderson (Atlanta), Joel Quenneville (Chicago), Joe Sacco (Colorado) and Bruce Boudreau (Washington) have their clubs off to decent starts.

Bonus note: The Flyers have moved the start time of their game against Tampa Bay to 5 p.m. on Monday because across the parking lot at 8 p.m. the Philadelphia Phillies will play host to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series.