Ovechkin downplayed it as “a goal is a goal,” but the OT winner put an exclamation point on a vintage performance by the 39-year-old winger, who also led Washington with seven hits and scored on the power play late in the first period.

When Alex Ovechkin hosted Washington Capitals teammates for his 39th birthday dinner in September, he made it clear his focus for the next several months was on Stanley, not Wayne Gretzky. “He was talking not about the record,