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Capitals vs. Ducks Recap: Ovechkin’s Missile Wins It For Washington

Anaheim and Washington skated to a tie through regulation before Ovechkin won it in overtime 3 to 2.

By Geoff Thompson
NHL: Anaheim Ducks at Washington Capitals Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Anaheim entered Washington with points in three straight contests (2-0-1) to face off against a Capitals team with a five game winning streak on home ice. The Ducks would take a two goal lead but were eventually caught in the third by the Capitals to force extra time. And in overtime Alex Ovechkin won it with his 21st career overtime game winning goal.

Here’s Saturday night's Plus/Minus:

Plus: The Capitals’ third period comeback was quick, focused, and effective. Two goals in 4:22.

Minus: No power play opportunities for Washington in the game. There’s no way that stat should be true.

Ten more notes on the game.

  1. Early in the first Tom Wilson unfortunately nailed the post behind John Gibson with a wide open net thanks to a fortuitous bounce off the end boards. Immediately after Wilson and Kevin Bieksa dropped the gloves with Wilson toppling the Ducks defenseman.
  2. Before the first intermission Derek Grant skated in on a two on one alongside Dennis Rasmussen and put the Ducks ahead with a wicked wrist shot. After looking across the ice Grant put the puck up and over Braden Holtby’s stick with heat.
  3. Gibson’s best save of the game came early in the second period. Tracking a tic-tac-toe play between Nicklas Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Wilson the American netminder stoned Wilson from ten feet out.
  4. And midway through the contest Jakob Silfverberg tallied his eighth goal of the season to put Anaheim ahead by two. With Andre Burakovsky in the box Ryan Getzlaf’s shot was tipped in the slot by Silfverberg before bouncing off the post and Holtby’s right leg and over the goal line.
  5. The Capitals struggled to posses the puck and gain the offensive zone throughout the second period. The Ducks kept Washington on their half of the ice for prolonged periods in the middle frame.
  6. A little more than three minutes into the third Backstrom buried his seventh goal of the season. A shot from Ovechkin forced Gibson to kick the puck into the slot where Backstrom corralled the puck with his right foot before stuffing it into the wide open net.
  7. And only four minutes later Evgeny Kuznetsov snapped a quick shot from the low slot that deflected off of Andrew Cogliano and beyond Gibson to tie the score at two.
  8. The Capitals haven’t competed in a contest that needed more than sixty minutes for the past 34 days, dating back to a 2 to 1 shootout victory for Washington over Edmonton.
  9. And in overtime Ovechkin fired a missile from forty feet that went off the far post and in for a Washington win.
  10. Whenever Washington plays Kevin Roy: