Ovechkin nets 1,000th combined NHL season-playoffs goal

The 40-year-old Russian left wing scored his 923rd regular-season career goal from the left faceoff dot with 5:43 remaining in the third period to force overtime.

But Brock Nelson netted the winner for the league-leading Avalanche 1:22 into the extra session.

Ovechkin, who has 26 goals this season, broke the NHL regular-season scoring record previously held by Wayne Gretzky last April with his 895th goal and now stands 16 shy of Gretzky's combined season-playoff goals total.

Gretzky's 122 playoff goals remains an NHL record and it's unlikely Ovechkin will improve on his 77 career playoff goals this season, his last under contract to the Capitals, the only NHL team for which he has played.

At 35-27 with nine overtime losses, the Capitals have 79 points with 11 games remaining, five points behind Detroit for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.