Capitals 3, Red Wings 2 (SO)
WASHINGTON -- T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored shootout goals on Washington's first two attempts and the Capitals defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Tuesday night in a game decided by the tiebreaking skills competition.
Oshie beat Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard with a wrist shot to open the session and Kuznetsov used a deke to elude Howard on his turn.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby stopped Gustav Nyquist and Pavel Dutsyuk as the Capitals (19-5-2) won for the seventh time in their last eight games.
The Capitals tied it at 2 with 9:09 left in the third period during a goalmouth scramble on a power play when left winger Alex Ovechkin skated in from the left circle and poke the loose puck into the net for his 13th of the season.
Right winger Justin Williams also scored in regulation for Washington and left winger Marcus Johansson had two assists. Holtby finished with 21 saves.
Howard stopped 38 shots.
Left winger Henrik Zetterberg and right winger Thomas Jurco scored for Detroit (15-8-5), which picked up at least a point in 11 straight games (7-0-4).
The Capitals rallied to avoid their first back-to-back losses of the season.
Thanks in part to two power plays, Washington outshot Detroit 28-15 in the first two periods but trailed by a goal.
The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead at 3:16 of the second after Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov fanned on the puck behind the Capitals' net. Detroit center Joakim Andersson got the puck and fed in front to Turco, who was all alone and slid it past Holtby.
It took Washington just 43 seconds to put a puck past Howard when the game began. Williams lunged for a rebound off a shot from Kuznetsov and poked it home for his eighth goal of the season.
Detroit got the equalizer with 4:20 left in the first.
Center Dylan Larkin controlled the puck off a faceoff in the right circle, skated toward the end line and sent a perfect pass into the slot that was redirected by Zetterberg past Holtby.
NOTES: Capitals RW Justin Williams' first-period goal was his 600th NHL point. ... Detroit LW Drew Miller (broken jaw) missed his second consecutive game, and LW Teemu Pulkkinen (dislocated shoulder) missed his third straight. ... Red Wings D Jakub Kindl was a healthy scratch. ... Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower body) missed his 12th game, while LW Marcus Johansson (lower body) returned after missing one game. ... RW Stanislav Galiev, RW Chris Brown, and D Aaron Ness were healthy scratches for Washington. ... D Mike Green, who spent 10 seasons with the Capitals, played his first game at the Verizon Center as a member of the Red Wings. ... Detroit C Pavel Datsyuk played his 900th NHL game. ... C Nicklas Backstrom played his 600th game for the Capitals.