Nelson, Avalanche recover for OT win against Capitals

WASHINGTON -- Brock Nelson scored at 1:22 of overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche recovered for a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Sunday.

Nelson won it when he redirected a feed in the right circle from Martin Necas at the far goal post. It was Nelson’s 32nd goal of the season.

“That’s kind of the plan there with Marty in a 3-on-3 situation; just get him the puck and try to get open,” Nelson said. “He’s so good at creating space for himself and for everybody else with how shifty he is, how quick he is. 

“I was just trying to get to the net and find a lane, and he put it right on me.”

Gabriel Landeskog scored in his return from a lower-body injury, and Nicolas Roy also had a goal for the Avalanche (46-13-10). Necas had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves.

Colorado is five points ahead of the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division. Dallas hosts the Vegas Golden Knights later Sunday. 

“We know how tight it’s going to be come the postseason,” said Landeskog, the Avalanche captain. “It’s not going to be 6-5 hockey games, so we’re going to have to check for our chances, and I thought we did that tonight.”

Alex Ovechkin tied it in the third period with his 1,000th NHL goal (regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs combined) for the Capitals (35-27-9), who have points in five straight games (3-0-2). Logan Thompson made 21 saves.

Washington trails the Detroit Red Wings by five points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. 

“I think we played a solid game,” said Ovechkin, the Capitals captain. “Obviously, it (stinks) that we lost, but right now every point, we’ll take it. We played one of the best teams in the League, and you can see that we fight and it was a tight game.”

Ovechkin made it 2-2 at 14:17 with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the left face-off dot. He has 923 goals in the regular season and 77 in the playoffs, joining Wayne Gretzky (1,016) as the only players in NHL history to score 1,000 combined career goals.

“It's just another accolade for him and it’s just incredible career to get 1,000 goals and do it on home ice and do it in that way,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “It’s a huge goal to tie the game late in the third period. It's a big goal, so it was a big moment.”

Justin Sourdif gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 11:53 of the first period. Connor Connor McMichael a pass into the offensive zone, and Sourdif got to it behind the defense and beat Blackwood with a wrist shot glove-side.

“He made a good outlet pass to me, and I saw that weak-side (defenseman) coming at me,” McMichael said. “So, I just tried to buy some time for him to get some speed and laid it in there, and nice finish.”

Landeskog, who missed seven games, tied it 1-1 at 1:05 of the third. Thompson went behind the net to play the puck and had his pass intercepted by Necas, who passed across the crease to Landeskog for a shot into the open net.

“You need a big goal in that situation, and Marty comes up with the puck and finds Gabe,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “(Landeskog) just has a knack for making a play when you need it, whether it’s on the offensive side or the defensive side, and it’s good to have him back.”

Roy gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 6:03 when he forced a turnover by defenseman Cole Hutson and beat Thompson with a snap shot from the slot.

NOTES: It was Nelson’s ninth game-winning goal this season; only Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos has more (10). … Colorado is 12-2-3 in afternoon games this season and a League-best 41-13-5 in such games since 2019-20. … The Capitals went 1-for-5 on the power play. … Washington forward Ethen Frank left the game in the first because of a lower-body injury after he was shoved on the rush by Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews and crashed hard into the net. Carbery did not have an update after the game.