While it was a wild finish for the Detroit Red Wings in regulation against the Washington Capitals, they ultimately fell short via the shootout.
Things appeared bleak for the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday evening, trailing 3-1 to the Washington Capitals with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
The good news is that, thanks to a pair of goals from Alex DeBrincat, including a wild bounce off the glass to knot the score at 3–3, the Red Wings secured a valuable point in the standings.
The bad news is that the Capitals converted on all three shootout attempts, while Detroit went 2-for-3, resulting in a 4–3 loss.
Patrick Kane did become the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history, recording the 1,375th point of his NHL career with an assist on Ben Chiarot’s second-period goal.
Kane initially appeared to reach the milestone in the opening 20 minutes, picking up an assist on what would have been a power-play goal by Lucas Raymond. However, replays showed that Kane entered the offensive zone a fraction too early, and the goal was disallowed for offside.
Not long after Raymond's disallowed goal, the Capitals scored first thanks to the third goal of the season from Nic Dowd, who beat John Gibson with a low glove-side shot.
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Chiarot's goal midway through the second period knotted the score at 1-1, and was his first tally since signing a three-year contract extension earlier in the week.
The Capitals took a 2-1 lead in the third period after Dylan Strome poked the puck away from Gibson's glove and wrapped it around into the net; the tally withstood a coach's challenge for goaltender interference.
Washington then padded their lead after a deflection goal from Declan Chisholm, who was credited for his first goal of the season.
DeBrincat scored the first of what would be two goals on the night at 18:20 of the third period with Gibson pulled. Then, at the 19:07 mark, his dump-in attempt deflected off the glass and somehow bounced into the net past a bewildered Charlie Lindgren.
Improbably, the Red Wings tied the game and secured at least one point on a night when the Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, and Montreal Canadiens all won their respective games.
Following a scoreless overtime, Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane converted in the shootout for Detroit, though Dylan Larkin rang a shot off the crossbar. The Capitals scored on all three of their shootout attempts, including the game-deciding tally from Dowd.
The Red Wings will face the Colorado Avalanche at home on Saturday afternoon.
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