WASHINGTON — Despite trailing 3-0, the Washington Capitals were playing the right way against the Carolina Hurricanes, and it felt like it was just a matter of time before the tide turned in their direction. Ultimately, it led to a huge two points.

Justin Sourdif had the overtime winner and the Capitals topped the Hurricanes, 4-3, to win back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 3.

Here are the takeaways:

Down 3-0 in the second and in need of a spark, Hendrix Lapierre was the one to step up and inject some life into the lineup.

Lapierre got to the front and stuck with a loose puck, eventually burying the rebound past Frederik Andersen to pull Washington within two. He now has three points in last five games.

Ultimately, his goal was a wake-up call for the Capitals, who continued to fight and push for the tie.

Later in the period, Dylan Strome, playing on a new look like with Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, got to the front of the net and tapped in a net-front feed from Protas to make it a one-goal game entering the third.

Strome now has five goals in his last six games and points in six of the last seven overall.

Then, late in the third, after a monstrous hit from Tom Wilson and a good board battle and pass from Protas, Jakob Chychrun got to the slot and sniped home the game-tying goal to eventually force overtime. Chychrun's 19 goals are tied for the most in the NHL by a defenseman this season.

In overtime, Justin Sourdif got to the front and buried the game-winner to give the Capitals back-to-back wins.

The Capitals got off to the start that they wanted, piling shots on net and getting plenty of chances against the Hurricanes. While they outshot the Hurricanes through the first, 19-13, they fell behind the eight ball on a couple of mistakes.

First, William Carrier got to the front and caught a feed from the point before sneaking pass a sliding Dylan McIlrath to find Mark Jankowski, left alone in front, for the lay-up. Later in the frame, John Carlson's failed pass led to a break for Sebastian Aho, who beat Clay Stevenson to make it a 2-0 game for Carolina.

While the scoreboard didn't reflect it, D.C. was taking the right steps in the process, and ultimately, it'd pay off as they worked their way back.

The Capitals were also playing shorthanded, with Connor McMichael listed as week-to-week and on the injured reserve, along with Matt Roy and Charlie Lindgren.

With Lindgren on the shelf and Logan Thompson still day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Clay Stevenson made his second career NHL start, with Garin Bjorklund up from Hershey to back up.

Stevenson made 19 saves on 22 shots for his first NHL win.

Meanwhile, Declan Chisholm and Dylan McIlrath were both in the lineup as Martin Fehervary, expecting his first child with his girlfriend, was a late scratch for personal reasons.