The Washington Capitals have always leaned on Nic Dowd. And on Thursday, facing the Detroit Red Wings in the biggest game of the year, they got exactly what they needed from him en route to a chaotic shootout victory.

Dowd kicked things off for Washington early, set the tone and ultimately, sent the team home on a high note after a disappointing comeback with the game-winner in a 4-3 shootout win for the Capitals.

Here are the takeaways:

With quite a bit on the line for D.C. entering Thursday's contest, the Capitals needed everyone to step up and do their part, and Nic Dowd got hat message loud and clear.

It hasn't been the smoothest season for the 34-year-old, but he had quite the start to action in Detroit that dragged the Capitals into the game.

After a power-play goal for the Red Wings was called back due to offside, the Capitals got right back to work with a big finish to their penalty kill. That's when Dowd's line got to work.

After getting physical along the boards, Dowd picked up a clean feed from Connor McMichael and wired a quick shot past John Gibson to make it a 1-0 game. It ended a 23-game goal drought for Dowd, and marked a major turning point early in the game.

Dowd led by example and players following suit with gritty play and big blocks aplenty. He finished the game with a team-leading five hits and helped set the tone.

Then, later, when the team needed him most, he scored in the shootout, an unlikely pick to shoot, and won the game with a beautiful move and goal on John Gibson.

With Patrick Kane sparking his group after passing Mike Modano as the highest-scoring American in NHL history in the second, Washington needed to take the momentum back going into the third.

And ultimately, it was Dylan Strome who made that happen, along with a won challenge, something that has been rare for D.C. this season.

Strome got to the front and picked up a loose puck that wasn't completely covered by John Gibson before wrapping around and stuffing it home to make it 2-1. The 28-year-old now has points in five of his last six and eight of the last 10 overall.

Detroit challenged, claiming that Strome's contact had knocked the puck loose from Gibson's glove, but the call on the ice was confirmed with it being determined that the Red Wings netminder didn't fully have it covered.

For that time, the Capitals were able to take momentum back. Minutes after Strome's go-ahead goal and an impressive kill on a late too many men call, Jakob Chychrun's point shot went off Declan Chisholm and in to put the Capitals up by two. It marked Chisholm's first as a Capital.

Chychrun finished the night with three assists, and Strome also had a multi-point outing.

The Capitals had a two-goal lead late after shifting the momentum in the third, and with the goalie pulled, couldn't shut things down for the second time in three games.

Alex DeBrincat got behind John Carlson to bury a puck in front, and then, secodns later, his dump-in went off the camera hole in the corner and right to the crease, going off of Charlie Lindgren's leg and in to make it a 3-3 game and force overtime.

There, Lindgren appeared to be ailing, and though Clay Stevenson got ready to enter the game, he stayed in for the shootout.

While Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scored on their chances, so did Dylan Strome and Ryan Leonard. Dylan Larkin's shot went off the bar, and that's when the Capitals went off the board with Dowd, who won the game.

played all three shots. Dylan Larkin missed on his attempt.

- Alex Ovechkin picked up an assist and has points in five of his last six and 11 of the last 14.

- John Carlson had a team-leading six blocks.

- Tom Wilson had a big defensive game, coming up with some smart plays and blocks and battling hard for the puck.

- Rasmus Sandin made his return from injury, but Matt Roy remained out of the mix.