Kings 2, Capitals 1 (SO)
Marian Gaborik scored the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout as host Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak and made Darryl Sutter the 18th coach to reach 500 wins.
Jonathan Quick made 21 saves before stopping 2-of-3 attempts in the bonus format to match Rogie Vachon for the most victories in franchise history with 171. Anze Kopitar scored in regulation as the Kings halted Washington's three-game winning streak by beating the Capitals for the sixth straight time.
Joel Ward scored for the fourth consecutive game for Washington, which dropped its fifth shootout in a row and is winless in the bonus format since Dec. 15. Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves but was beaten by Jeff Carter and Gaborik in the shootout as the Capitals climbed within one point of the New York Rangers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Gaborik, playing in his seventh game with Los Angeles since being acquired from Columbus, prevented an icing call to set up the opening goal. The Slovakian outraced Washington's defense to get to the puck and sent a quick feed to Kopitar, who buried it from the bottom of the left faceoff circle at 14:09 of the first period.
The Capitals avoided their third shutout loss in eight games when rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov skated down the right wing and centered a pass to Ward, who whiffed on his initial shot attempt before scooping the puck over Quick's right shoulder with 7:36 left in the third. Kuznetsov also scored Washington's only goal in the bonus format.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kings RW Justin Williams picked up an assist on Kopitar's goal to celebrate playing in his 200th consecutive game. He is the 13th player in franchise history to accomplish that feat. ... C Nicklas Backstrom notched an assist to extend his point streak to four games for Washington, which was unable to cash in on three power-play chances after going 5-for-9 during its winning streak. ... Los Angeles failed to hold a third-period lead for the second straight game but managed to improve to 22-1-0 when leading after two sessions.