Alex Ovechkin was hurt when his shoulder hit the boards early in the third period. (0:20)
The Washington Capitals missed a chance to move up in the table when they blew a lead and lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
The team said that Ovi had an upper-body injury after he crashed into the boards early in the third period. His status was not immediately clear.
The Caps coughed up a two-goal lead after Ovi left the game. They left with a point after Alex Kerfoot scored in the seventh round of the shootout.
Washington had the chance to move into third place in the Metropolitan Division with three games left in the regular season after Pittsburgh lost at Philadelphia earlier in the day. The Maple Leafs were called for too many men on the ice in OT and that cost them a power play.
Losing Ovi could be a bigger deal moving forward, as it was for the Caps not to beat the Leafs.
After failing to score on a breakaway attempt, Ovichkin tripped over the stick of Toronto goaltender Kallgren. He remained on the ice for several seconds after he made contact with the boards, as the arena went silent.
Before he could get medical attention, he got to his feet and left the ice without his stick. He yelled at the officials for not calling a penalty on the play.
The consistently durable Russian superstar usually shakes off minor injuries and stays on the bench, as he did earlier in the night when he took a puck off his right shin. With the start of the playoffs just over a week away, it's not clear if Ovi will be able to play.
The NHL's top scorer this season is Oviechkin with 50 goals. He is third on the career list with 780 goals.
At age 36, Oviechkin has shown remarkable durability. He missed two games because of protocol reasons.
Washington has three games left in the regular season, two against the New York Islanders and one against the Rangers.
The report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
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