The Capitals escaped Ottawa with a point to close out their five-game road trip.
The Washington Capitals were certainly feeling the effects of a lengthy road swing start to weigh on them as they played the final game of their trip on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, and between that and special teams, it was looking like a night to forget.
However, Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome didn't like that storyline, and refused to let their team leave empty-handed. The two led a furious rally in the third period to force overtime, but ultimately, a lack of discipline and a rough go-of-it led to a 5-4 loss.
Here are all the takeaways.
Lack Of Discipline & Power-Play Woes In Disatrous Second Puts Capitals In Hot Water
From the get-go, it was clear that the officials were going to call anything and everything, and the Capitals struggled to keep it clean — as did Ottawa.
Washington took back-to-back too many men on the ice penalties in the first, and though Charlie Lindgren and the penalty kill held down the fort to start, Ottawa capitalized on its third opportunity of the night, with Ridly Greig opening the scoring.
Thankfully for D.C., things were still stable early in the frame, as Connor McMichael dended an 11-game scoring drought to even the score.
Then, on a second-period power play, things fell apart, as Washington was playing fast and loose and giving up several chances that ultimately came back to bite.
First, a breakaway for Josh Norris forced John Carlson to trip him, leading to a peanlty shot and subsequent goal for Norris.
Just seconds after Norris' goal, the Senators threatened again shorthanded on a 2-on-1, and this time, it was Shane Pinto who beat Lindgren on a rebound.
Washington's top-ranked road PK gave up two power-play goals on five shots, and the Capitals went 2-for-6 on the man advantage themselves. Lindgren also had to come up big to stop yet another penalty shot in the third and keep his tetam within two, as Pinto got a chacne to capitalized after being taken down by Aliaksei Protas.
Strome and Ovechkin Power Capitals Comeback, But Washington Falls In OT
The Capitals appeared to be down and out on two different occasions, but Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin wouldn't let Washington go gently.
After Ottawa went up 3-1 going into the third thanks to back-to-back shorthanded goals, Strome struck early on the team's fifth power play of the night, which got a makeover with Ethen Frank replacing Jakob Chychrun on the top unit. It marked his second PPG in as many games and pulled Washington within one.
Less than three minutes later, Jake Sanderson restored the two-goal lead for the Senators, but Alex Ovechkin had a response on yet another man advantage for D.C. in the third.
Ovechkin picked up a feed from Protas and sniped home a power-play goal from long range to make it a one-goal game once again.
The 39-year-old now sits 19 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history, and has scored 23 goals through 35 games this season to maintain one of the best scoring paces of his 20-year career.
Soonafter, Ovechkin shined again, drawing everyone to him before feeding Strome in front, who stayed with the puck and roofed it past Anton Forsberg to even the score at four with his second of the night.
While the Capitals turned things on in the third period to guarantee at least a point, Thomas Chabot came in behind the play in the latter half of overtime and beat Lindgren 1-on-1 for the victory.
Lindgren Comes Up Big, Defense Struggles
Though it wasn't the best night on the stat sheet, Charlie Lindgren had a strong night and kept his team in it, coming up with several saves to keep the Capitals in the game.
Washington didn't do him many favors, leaving him to dry on several plays and also forcing him to face two penalty shots and too many chances shorthanded.
Ultimately, though, the 31-year-old made some key stops and finished with 30 saves on 35 shots. He also caught a break, as Brady Tkachuk's goal was taken off the board after a challenge for goaltender interference.
Top Shelf Takes
- Ovechkin picked up two assists in addition to his goal and moved with five points of passing Phil Esposito (1,590) for the 11th-most points in NHL history.
- Aliaksei Protas had an assist and has points in six straight games.
- Tom Wilson recorded his 200th NHL assist on Strome's second goal.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois is riding a three-game point streak and has points in five of his last six. His 25 points over the last 26 games lead the Capitals.
- Stick taps to Ottawa for holding a moment of silence for the victims of the DCA plane/helicopter crash, as well as former Capitals goaltender and employee Shawn Simpson, who passed away Thursday.