The Washington Capitals fell to the Ottawa Senators, 4-3 (OT) Thursday night at Capital One Arena. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 23rd goal of the season in the loss. The Capitals record to falls 20-13-5 (45 points) on the season.
Darcy Kuemper (10-9-2, 2.40 GAA, .920 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Cam Talbot (9-8-1, 2.66 GAA, .915 sv%) got the start for the Senators. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Anthony Mantha
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Matt Irwin
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Joe Snively, Lucas Johansen.
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals and Senators skated to a scoreless draw in the first frame.
The Senators controlled possession in the first eight minutes of the period, but the differential leveled-off in the second half of the period. The Senators led in 5v5 shot attempts, 20-13 and SOG, 16-4 in the first frame. The Sens led in xGF 1.29 to .36.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals quickly grabbed the game’s first lead early in the middle frame with a tally from Alex Ovechkin (23) just 1:15 into the period. Erik Gustafsson (15) and Garnet Hathaway (6) had the helpers.
8️⃣0️⃣3️⃣ #Ovechkin pic.twitter.com/up3IMpDRss
— LNH (@LNH_FR) December 30, 2022
The Capitals quickly made it 2-0 with a tally from Dylan Strome (7) at 3:37 of the second period. Conor Sheary (13) and Nick Jensen (14) had the assists.
🥵 this shot pic.twitter.com/zj3lpzWody
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 30, 2022
The Senators got on the scoreboard with a tally from Jake Sanderson (2) at 8:30 of the second period. The deflected point shot ended Darcy Kuemper’s personal shutout streak at 107 minutes and 30 seconds.
Jake Sanderson scores against the Washington Capitals to make it 2-1 #WSHvsOTT #ALLCAPS #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/zoXhhyszz9
— nopClips (@nopClips) December 30, 2022
But the Capitals were able to restore their two-goal lead late in the period. Evgeny Kuznetsov (6) notched the Capitals third goal of the game at 15:56 of the second period. The goal was unassisted.
THAT DANGLE BY KUZY 😵💫 pic.twitter.com/j1eKqRSKY0
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) December 30, 2022
The Senators answered late in the second period. Tim Stutzle (12) made it 3-2 at 19:44 of the second period. Claude Giroux (16) had the lone helper.
Tim Stützle finishes an unreal play by Claude Giroux! #GoSensGo
A thing of beauty. pic.twitter.com/iW2VmzW6xG
— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) December 30, 2022
The second period concluded with the Capitals leading, 3-2. The Senators dominated possession, leading in 5v5 shot attempts, 45-24, after two periods, but strong goaltending by Kuemper and converting on the few chances they did have gives the Caps the lead. Sens led in high-danger chances, 13-3 and xGF 2.34 to .98.
THIRD PERIOD
The Senators tied the game in the final frame with a goal from Alex DeBrincat (12) at 14:26 of the final frame. Shane Pinto (7) and Drake Batherson (22) had the helpers.
DEBRINCAT TIES THE GAME! 🚨
Assisted by Batherson and Pinto pic.twitter.com/uOUEKRclKj
— Lalime’s Martian (@LalimesMartian) December 30, 2022
Regulation would end, tied 3-3.
OVERTIME
The Senators would win it in overtime.
ALEX DEBRINCAT WINS IT IN OVERTIME!🚨
SENS WIN! pic.twitter.com/tvW0SHGaPF
— Lalime’s Martian (@LalimesMartian) December 30, 2022
The Capitals are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 4PM.
SHAVINGS
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 23rd goal of the season to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. It marks Ovechkin’s NHL-record 138th game-opening goal.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his sixth goal of the season to extend the Capitals’ lead to 3-1. Kuznetsov extends his point streak to four games (2g, 3a) and now has 14 points (3g, 11a) in his last 14 games.