Capitals 6, Lightning 5 (SO)
Capitals 6, Lightning 5 (OT): Captain Alex Ovechkin scored his fourth goal to forge a tie with 32.4 seconds left in regulation and Troy Brouwer netted the shootout winner in the fifth round as host Washington outlasted Tampa Bay.
Nicklas Backstrom contributed a goal and four assists for the Capitals and Ovechkin recorded his third career four-goal game on a screen shot from the left point. Starter Braden Holtby allowed three goals on eight shots before Philipp Grubauer came on to make 32 saves for Washington.
Tyler Johnson and captain Martin St. Louis each recorded a goal and two assists while Ondrej Palat’s tally 8:36 into the third period gave the Lightning a 5-4 lead. Nikita Kucherov and Nate Thompson also tallied and Ben Bishop turned aside 26 shots for Tampa Bay, which dropped to 0-4-2 in its last six road games.
St. Louis scored from the slot 2:26 into the game on the power play and Kucherov hammered home a one-timer from the same spot with the man advantage at 10:49. Thompson finished a two-on-one rush with J.T. Brown 18 seconds later for a 3-0 lead before Ovechkin scored directly after a faceoff at 14:15.
Backstrom flipped in a power-play goal 6:24 into the second session before Johnson scored on the rebound to make it 4-2 at 12:41. But after Richard Panik was called for a five-minute boarding major, Ovechkin scored on a backdoor play and hammered home a shot from the left circle to tie the contest before the end of the second.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Capitals have scored at least three goals in the second period eight times this season, including their last two outings. … The Lightning, which dropped to 3-1 in shootouts, were without D Victor Hedman for the second straight game due to a lower-body injury. … Washington D Mike Green picked up 18 minutes in penalties during the first period with a double-minor, two minors and a 10-minute misconduct.