Capitals Beat Red Wings, 3-2 in Shootout

The Washington Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday night at Verizon Center. The shootout was dominated by the Capitals, with T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov scoring, and Braden Holtby not allowing a Red Wings goal. The Caps take the season series from the Red Wings, two games to one. With the win. the Capitals regained first place in the Metropolitan Division.

(Photo: @Billys12)

The starting lines for the Capitals:

Offensive Lines:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Beagle-Wilson
Laich-Latta-Burakovsky

Defense:
Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Chorney

Stanislav Galiev and Aaron Ness were the Capitals healthy scratches for tonight’s game. Braden Holtby got the start in net for the Capitals – his 200th game for the Caps. Jimmy Howard got the start in net for the Red Wings.

QUICK TAKES
The Capitals got off to another good start, scoring on their first shift, 43 seconds into the contest. Caps were 1-4 on power plays. The Capitals outshot the Red Wings 40-23, reversing the recent trend of giving up a lot of shots. The NHL game summary can be found here: Detailed player stats for the game can be found here:

The Capitals jumped to a quick lead, just 43 seconds into the contest on a rebound knock-in by Justin Williams, his 600th career point of his career.

The Capitals were the benefactor’s of the games first power play on a slashing call on Niklas Kromwall at the 9:30 mark. The Caps showed good offensive zone pressure setting up Ovi for two blasts, but ultimately couldn’t find the back of the net. The Red Wings would tie it up on a nice dish from rookie sensation Dylan Larkin to Henrik Zetteberg at the 15:40 mark.

The period would end in a 1-1 tie.

The Red Wings would return the favor and strike quickly at the start of the second period when Tomas Jurco knocked in a rebound at the 3:16 mark of the period.

The Caps went back on the power play at the 14:46 mark on a tripping call on Red Wings Jonathan Ericsson. The Caps were able to manage a single flurry but Jimmy Howard made two nice saves, one without his stick. The second period would end with the Red Wings leading 2-1. The Capitals were out-shooting the Red Wings 28-15 after two periods of play.

The Capitals would finally tie the game on their 4th power play of the game, on a slap-in by Alex Ovechkin at the 11:51 mark of the final frame.

Regulation would end in a 2-2 tie. The Caps led in shots on goal 39-21.

The Capitals would start with Matt Niskanen, Karl Alzner and Evgeny Kuznetsov for the overtime period. The extra time would include a power play for both sides, however the period would end scoreless.