Superstar Alex Ovechkin left the Washington Capitals' game Sunday against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second period with what he later described as an upper-body injury and did not return. His status will be updated on Tuesday.

Ovechkin got tangled up with Jackets forward Raffi Torres during his second shift of the period, about six minutes in, and fell to the ice, after which he got up and skated off while grimacing. He left for the locker room, and while the Caps said after the second period that he might return, his day was over.

Asked by reporters afterward what had happened, Ovechkin was intentionally vague.

"I can't tell you how I got hurt," he said, later adding the injury was to the "upper body" and terming himself "day-to-day."

Ovechkin, who has a League-leading 14 goals and 23 points in 14 games, took just 10 shifts for 7:43 of ice time and recorded one shot on goal against Columbus before his early departure.

He was also involved in an altercation with the Jackets' Jason Chimera earlier in the second after getting bumped over by the Columbus bench during a stoppage in play. Ovechkin responded with a shove and players from both sides proceeded to join in the scrum. Ovechkin, Chimera and Jared Boll of the Jackets all received roughing minors, and Boll received an additional 10-minute misconduct.

"It was just a moment of the game," Ovechkin said. "Nothing happened. He just hit me, I hit him, there was a little battle there, nothing happened."

Chimera, who said the incident stemmed from an earlier hit by Ovechkin, expressed concern over the sniper's health.

"He kind of threw a punch at me, and then Boller kind of got into it and it was a mess. I hope he's all right," Chimera said. "There was no intent to hurt somebody out there. He just hit me pretty hard that one shift, so I just let him know 'You're not going to hit me like that all game,' so I pushed him a bit, he punched me back in the face, and a couple shifts later he's off the ice, so I hope he's all right."

Columbus rallied for a 5-4 overtime win over Washington.

Ovechkin has only missed four games in his career. The Capitals have two days off before traveling to play New Jersey on Wednesday.