Photo: @NHLFlames

The Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames by a final score of 4-3 in a shootout at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Capitals finished their western portion of their Canadian road trip with a record of 2-1-0. Both teams looked to bounce back from forgettable performances. The Flames came into this game on the heels off of a 9-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday while the Capitals lost 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers the same night. 

Capitals’ Lines at Flames

#Caps lineup in CGY:
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 13-Vrana
65-Burakovsky, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
18-Stephenson, 20-Eller, 10-Connolly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 25-Smith-Pelly

6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 22-Bowey

Copley vs. Smith. #CapsFlames

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) October 27, 2018

Forwards Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky were promoted to the top-six after the team’s loss to the Oilers on Thursday night. Defenseman Christian Djoos drew out of the lineup in favor of Madison Bowey, who made his season debut against the Flames. Goaltender Pheonix Copley got his second start of the season; he made 30 saves in a 6-0 blowout loss to the New Jersey Devils on October 11, his first career start as a Capital.

First Period

Flames forward James Neal stayed on the bench but then left following a hit along the boards from Capitals center Nic Dowd around the five-minute mark.

Vrana scored his third of the season on a two-on-0 after getting a pass from Kuznetsov, after he stripped the puck off the wall from Flames’ forward Matthew Tkachuk in the offensive zone 9:28 into the game for a 1-0 Capitals lead.

Kuzy with the swipe, Vrana with the snipe! #ALLCAPS #CapsFlames pic.twitter.com/KTIvwuUXw1

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 27, 2018

T.J. Oshie made it 2-0 with 5:33 remaining in the first on the power play to make it 2-0. Oshie flipped it under the bar on his backhand in the crease after getting a rebound on Ovechkin’s shot.

Osh finishes in front! #ALLCAPS #CapsFlames pic.twitter.com/QpP1CFIgi6

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 27, 2018

Calgary would respond 15 seconds later as defenseman Travis Hamonic deflected a shot from forward Johnny Gaudreau with his foot at the goal mouth. The goal would cut the lead in half as Hamonic scored his first goal since October 14 of last season.

Elias Lindholm would tie the game with a shot from the right circle after getting the pass from Gaudreau at the opposite circle. Lindholm scored nine seconds into the power play through the wickets of Copley’s pads.

The Capitals led 10-9 in shots and 4-3 in takeaways after 20 minutes. Washington won 58% of the faceoffs during the first frame. The Caps had three takeaways to the Flames’ eight.

Calgary led 5-4 in blocked shots after one.

Each team was credited with 12 hits in the first period.

Second Period

Matt Niskanen found the twine from the point after Brett Connolly fed him up top. Dmitrij Jaskin set the screen in front of Smith for Niskanen’s second of the season with just under three minutes to go in the second to put the Capitals back on top.

Nisky from deep! #ALLCAPS #CapsFlames pic.twitter.com/xZ1Hlxkspt

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 27, 2018

The Capitals led 18-15 in shots, including an 8-6 advantage in the middle frame, and 7-6 in takeaways. Washington had 10 giveaways through two while Calgary had 11.

The Flames led 9-6 in blocked shots and 17-16 in hits after two.

Each team had three power plays and converted on one of them through two.

Third Period

Matthew Tkachuk deflected Rasmus Anderson’s bomb from the point in front of Copley with 1:27 left to tie the game.

The Capitals and 13-7 in takeaways.

The Flames led 30-27 in shots, including 10-8 in the third period, and 22-21 in hits. The Capitals had 15 giveaways while the Flames had 13. Calgary won 55% of the draws.

Each team blocked 13 shots and scored one power-play goal. The Flames had four opportunities while the Capitals had three.

The game would go to overtime.

Overtime

The Flames would lead 30-27 in shots, including 4-1 in overtime.

The game would go to a shootout.

Shootout

Tkachuk missed the net on the backhand in the crease on the first attempt for the Flames.

Smith stoned Oshie with his left pad after trying to fake him out and laying him down.

Monahan picked the top corner and went high blocker side on Copley to start the second round.

Kuznetsov scored through the five-hole of Smith after deking on his way to the crease.

Copley shut down the five-hole on James Neal.

John Carlson got shut down after shooting into the gut of Smith.

Copley made a low blocker side on Gaudreau.

Backstrom won it in the shootout going under the blocker of Smith.

Copley made 28 saves in the win.

The Capitals will be off until Thursday night when they finish their road swing against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Puck drop is at 7:30 PM on NBC Sports Washington.

By Harrison Brown