The Washington Capitals downed the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 (OT) Tuesday night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. The victory improves the Capitals record to 36-26-9 (81 points) on the season. With their win, the Capitals remain in the final Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference.
Following a fruitless first frame, Nic Dowd opened the scoring early in the middle frame but the Red Wings answered with a tally from Alex DeBrincat less than three minutes later for a 1-1 tie early in the second period. The Red Wings added a late power play goal from David Perron for a 2-1 lead at the second intermission.
The Capitals tied the game just 35 seconds into the final frame on a tap-in by Connor McMichael. The Capitals regained the lead four minutes later on Dylan Strome’s 24th goal of the season, to make it 3-2. But the Red Wings tied the game late in the third period on Patrick Kane’s 17th goal,of the season. Regulation concluded with the game tied, 3-3.
Dylan Strome scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren (20-12-5, 2.67 GAA, .912 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Alex Lyon (18-16-2, 3.04 GAA, .905 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Red Wings. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Connor McMichael — T.J. Oshie
Max Pacioretty — Dylan Strome —Ivan Miroshnichenko
Mike Sgarbossa — Hendrix Lapierre — Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Forward Sonny Milano (upper body injury), defenseman Ethan Bear, right-wing Tom Wilson (six-game suspension), Center Nicklas Backstrom (hip injury).
Transactions: The Capitals announced during first intermission that they had loaned right-wing Matthew Phillips to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
1ST PERIOD
The Capitals were held without a shot on goal until 9:12 remaining in the first frame, however the game remained scoreless due to stellar play by Capitals’ netminder Charlie Lindgren.
In the end there was no scoring in the first, with excellent netminding on both ends. After a slow start, the Caps recovered and led in 5v5 shot attempts, 17-12, scoring chances, 7-4 and high-danger chances, 4-2.
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals opened the scoring on Nic Dowd’s ninth goal of the season, just 2:09 into the middle frame. Nick Jensen (11) and Beck Malenstyn (14) had the assists.
Goal by 26 on the 26th pic.twitter.com/tF7l8IyPG8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 27, 2024
But the Red Wings answered less than three minutes later. Alex DeBrincat (24) potted the tying tally at 4:53.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 27, 2024
The Red Wings took their first lead of the night late in the period on a power play goal from David Perron (14) at 19:17.
STUCK WITH IT. pic.twitter.com/Z2e9bjWqiH
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 27, 2024
The period concluded with the Red Wings leading, 2-1. The Red Wings stepped up the possession in the second period, leading in 5v5 shots 23-18, scoring chances, 13-5 and high-danger chances, 7-2.
3RD PERIOD
The Capitals tied the game in the first minute of the final frame on a tap-in by Connor McMichael (17). T.J. Oshie (11) and Martin Fehervary (11) had the helpers.
Mikey in the clutch (again) 👀 pic.twitter.com/Dk0GHWHnbR
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 27, 2024
The Capitals regained the lead a little over four minutes later on Dylan Strome’s 24th goal of the season at 4:49 of the final frame. John Carlson (37) and Max Pacioretty (16) had the assists.
Dylan Strome has spent two seasons in DC. Dylan Strome has set a career-high in goals scored in each of his two seasons in DC. pic.twitter.com/4YCNZZqcVx
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 27, 2024
The Red Wings tied the game 3-3 on Patrick Kane’s 17th goal of the season at 14:40 of the third period.
PATRICK KANE. WHAT A SHOT. pic.twitter.com/oP2coJIGY4
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 27, 2024
Regulation concluded with the game tied, 3-3.
OVERTIME
Dylan Strome scored the game-winner for the Capitals at 1:55 of the extra frame. John Carlson (38) and Hendrix Lapierre (9) had the helpers.
Stromer REALLYYYYY wanted the GWG tonight pic.twitter.com/k2qLKxohKm
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 27, 2024
SHAVINGS (via Capitals PR)
- Nic Dowd scored his ninth goal of the season to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Four of Dowd’s nine goals this season have been game-opening goals. Dowd has recorded four points (3g, 1a) in his last three games against Detroit.
- Nick Jensen recorded his 11th assist of the season on Dowd’s game-opening goal. Jensen has tallied three assists in his last five games.
- Connor McMichael scored his 17th goal of the season to tie the game 35 seconds into the third period. McMichael has scored three goals in his last four games and has eight points (5g, 3a) in his last eight contests.
- McMichael’s third-period goal marks his 14th even-strength goal, which ranks tied for third on the Capitals.
- Dylan Strome scored his 24th goal of the season to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. It marks a new single-season career high in goals for Strome (previously 2022-23: 23g). Strome has scored 14 of his 24 goals this season in the third period.
- John Carlson recorded his team-leading 37th assist of the season on Strome’s go-ahead goal, extending his point streak to six games (2g-4a-6p). Carlson has recorded 13 points (4g, 9a) in his last 16 games.
- Dylan Strome scored his third career overtime goal to give the Capitals a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings. All three of Strome’s career overtime goals have come this season (also: 11/22/23 vs. BUF and 12/20/23 vs. NYI).
- With two goals tonight, Dylan Strome recorded his team-leading 15th multi-point game of the season. In addition, Strome’s five multi-goal games this season are tied with Alex Ovechkin for the most on Washington.
- Hendrix Lapierre recorded the secondary assist on Dylan Strome’s game-winning goal. It marks Lapierre’s first career overtime point and his second game-winning assist of the season.
- The Capitals went 3-1-0 during their four-game homestand are are 7-2-0 at Capital One Arena since Feb. 20.
- The Capitals are two points up on Detroit for for the 2nd wild card with a game in hand on the Red Wings. They’re one point behind PHI for 3rd in the Metro with two games in hand on the Flyers.
By Jon Sorensen