Mark another milestone for Alex Ovechkin’s legendary career.
The Russian great became just the second player in NHL history to score 1,000 total goals between the regular season and playoffs on Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche.
Ovechkin's 1,000th came in familiar fashion as he blasted a power-play goal home from his office in the circle with 5:43 left in regulation.
The goal marked his 26th of the season and was a critical one for the Capitals, tying the game 2-2 late in the third period and clinching the team one point in an eventual 3-2 loss.
"It sucks that we lost but right now, every point, we take it," Ovechkin said after the game. "It's always nice to reach (a milestone) and it was an important goal as well."
Ovechkin joins Wayne Gretzky, who scored a combined 1,016 goals between the regular season and the playoffs, as the only men to reach the 1,000-goal milestone.
The 40-year-old Ovechkin stands alone in the NHL record book as the only player to reach 900 career regular-season goals. He is the all-time goal-scoring leader with 923.
Gretzky has 1,016 NHL goals: 894 in the regular season and 122 in the playoffs, the latter of which the “Great One” still holds.
Colorado secured the win when Brock Nelson scored 82 seconds into 3-on-3 OT off a pass from Martin Necas, his 32nd goal of the season. Gabriel Landeskog and Nicolas Roy scored earlier for the Avalanche, who have won back-to-back games and on Friday became the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot.
Justin Sourdif also scored for the Capitals, whose two-game winning streak came to an end. It was Sourdif's 14th goal of his first season with Washington, following a late-June trade from back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida.
Colorado's Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced to earn his 20th win of the season. Logan Thompson made 21 saves in the loss for Washington, which has three teams between it and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Capitals forward Ethen Frank suffered a lower-body injury in the first period, crashing into the net following a shove from Devon Toews. Frank skated off under his own power, went directly to the locker room and did not return.
— with files from The Associated Press
