Nobody would’ve blamed you if you turned off last night’s game off after the second period (at least, I wouldn’t have).
The Washington Capitals, already sans their top center Pierre-Luc Dubois, entered Tuesday night’s tilt with the Montreal Canadiens with a more extensive inactive list. They were without Tom Wilson and Jakob Chychrun, arguably the two most productive players on this year’s team. Justin Sourdif, who has emerged as a key figure in the Caps forward rotation, was also unavailable. So it didn’t come as much of a surprise when Washington spent the first 40 minutes looking like they wanted to be anywhere but Capital One Arena that night. As the Habs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with the Caps offense looking listless, this appeared to be another game that would serve as fodder for existential questions as to where this team is right now.
Until it wasn’t.
This would have been an easy spot for a shorthanded Caps squad to effectively “punt” on a game that looked to have gotten away from them. Instead, they flipped the ice in their favor throughout the third period, with an expected goals share of 95.7% at all strengths. Ethen Frank, who’s taken advantage of the increased opportunity, was a spark plug for Washington as his redirect of a Matt Roy shot got them on the board:
Matt Roy sends it in close for an Ethen Frank deflection, and the Capitals are finally on the board. #ALLCAPS
— Green Line Brawl (@handle.invalid) January 13, 2026 at 9:11 PM
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They continued to pressure Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault throughout the period, who was able to protect what was now a one-goal lead. As Logan Thompson went to the bench for the extra attacker with two minutes left, Frank would again find himself in the right place at the right time to tie up what seemed like a sure loss less a half hour ago:
Ethen Frank you are the only Capital ever. Another D-man, this time Rasmus Sandin, sends it in for him to redirect, and he does so even more expertly than before. It's improbably a tied game in the dying minutes. #ALLCAPS
— Green Line Brawl (@handle.invalid) January 13, 2026 at 9:33 PM
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Overtime has been another much-maligned area of the Capitals’ play this season, largely due to questionable deployment. 3v3 would seemingly favor the younger Canadiens team on most nights, but after surviving an early onslaught on the first shift, the Caps largely spent most of the extra frame in Montreal’s end. Frank’s open ice speed stole the show as he made several plays that could’ve won it (and blown the roof off the arena in the process). Instead, on what would be the 10th shot Washington got on net in OT, it’d be Connor McMichael doing the honors after putting home a rebound for his first career OT winner:
I genuinely can't believe any part of this sentence, or my eyes, but Connor McMichael wins it for the Washington Capitals. #ALLCAPS
— Green Line Brawl (@handle.invalid) January 13, 2026 at 9:49 PM
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The Caps pick up two points that could loom large in what’s been a ridiculously tight Eastern Conference this year.