Capitals 3, Canucks 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Left winger Alex Ovechkin kept his hot scoring streak alive with a third-period goal to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Ovechkin took a pass from center Evgeny Kuznetsov and drilled a shot past goaltender Ryan Miller at 15:05. It was the fifth straight game Ovechkin has scored.
Right winger Jay Beagle had a goal and an assist for Washington. Left winger Jason Chimera also scored for the Capitals, who won their fourth straight game and fifth of six.
Center Henrik Sedin had a power-play goal and an assist for the Canucks (3-2-2). Right winger Radim Vrbata also scored for Vancouver, which is winless in four home games this season.
Miller ended the night stopping 32 shots. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made 23 saves.
The Capitals (5-1-0), who won in Vancouver for the first time in 13 years, took advantage of a Canucks giveaway to tie the game 2-2 at 5:22 of the third.
Left winger Marcus Johansson intercepted a Vrbata drop pass and sent the puck to defenseman John Carlson at the blue line. He took a shot that Beagle deflected past Miller.
Returning Vrbata to the top line with Henrik Sedin and left winger Daniel Sedin paid dividends as the unit combined for a pair of second-period goals to give Vancouver a 2-1 lead.
The Canucks tied the game 1-1 at 4:14 of the second. Henrik Sedin sent a pass from behind the net that hit Vrbata's skate and trickled through Holtby's legs. It was Vrbata's first point of the season.
Henrik Sedin put Vancouver ahead with a power-play goal at 14:01. Vrbata gave Daniel Sedin the puck behind the Washington net. Daniel Sedin passed it to his twin brother, who fired a seeing-eye shot that squeezed in between Holtby and the post.
The goal was just Vancouver's second on 23 power-play attempts.
Washington opened the scoring at 15:10 of the opening period. Beagle was the workhorse on the play, streaking down the left wing and then throwing the puck toward the net. Chimera fought off a check from Vancouver defenseman Matt Bartkowski and tipped the puck past Miller.
It was the fifth time in six games, and fourth time at home, that Vancouver gave up the opening goal.
NOTES: Canucks C Jared McCann returned to the lineup after missing one game with an injury. ... LW Chris Higgins, who suffered a broken foot in the preseason, and G Jacob Markstrom, out with a hamstring injury, both started skating. ... RW Adam Cracknell and D Yannick Weber were healthy scratches for Vancouver. ... The Canucks dressed five players 23 years old or younger. McCann (19), C Bo Horvat (20), LW Sven Baertschi (23), D Ben Hutton (22) and R Jake Virtanen (19). ... Vancouver's homestand continues Saturday against Detroit. ... The Capitals scratches were C Michael Latta, D Taylor Chorney and RW Stanislav Galiev. ... Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin is one of five active players to reach 900 points in less than 1,000 games. ... The game was just the second on the road for the Capitals this season. ... Washington's three-game road trip continues Friday in Edmonton.