Rare goal by Chorney lifts Capitals by Senators
WASHINGTON -- Seldom-used defenseman Taylor Chorney scored early in the third period to break a tie and the Washington Capitals opened up 2017 and a three-game home stand with a 2-1 victory Sunday over the Ottawa Senators.
Chorney has spent most of his first season with the Capitals as a healthy scratch and Sunday was his seventh game.
With the score tied at 1 in the third, Chorney took a pass from fellow defenseman Brooks Orpik at the point and fired a shot through a host of bodies and past Senators goalie Mike Condon to give Washington the lead for good with 17:17 remaining
The tally was just the third goal in 130 career games for Chorney and first since Mar. 2 against Toronto. The Capitals, who also got a goal from Karl Alzner, have had seven goals from their defenseman in their last 11 contests.
Washington had to stave off a 5-on-3 chance for Ottawa midway through the third period and more than a minute of the Senators with an extra attacker after pulling Condon in an attempt to gain the equalizer. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby registered 22 saves in the victory.
After an early stretch of the game that featured close calls and missed opportunities, the stalemate finally broke in the second period when Kyle Turris -- who had hit a post in the first -- took a fantastic feed from Ryan Dzingel and flipped the puck past Holtby to give the Senators a 1-0 advantage with 7:19 left in the second period.
It was Turris' 100th goal with Ottawa.
Ottawa had another scoring chance late in the second period when Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom was sent off for holding. But the Senators' power play set up a shorthanded breakaway for Washington's Justin Williams, whose shot ricocheted off Condon to T.J. Oshie.
Oshie found Alzner near the face-off dot and the defenseman fired a blast by Condon to tie the score with 19.5 seconds left in the period.
The Senators challenged whether Williams was offside, but the score was upheld after review. It was just Alzner's third goal of the season and his first since Nov. 1.
NOTES: Washington re-assigned F Jakub Vrana to AHL's Hershey on Sunday. Vrana made his NHL debut on Dec. 1 and scored one goal in 12 games with the Capitals. "We'll go day-by-day here," Washington coach Barry Trotz said of Vrana's status. ... Ottawa will play next on Jan. 7 due to its league-mandated break, but Senators coach Guy Boucher doesn't believe his team will be affected. "Every team looks at their break and can say something good or something bad about it," he said. ... Senators F Chris Kelly appeared in his 500th game with the club, only the 10th player in team history to reach that mark. F Derick Brassard reached the 600-game milestone in his NHL career. ... Sunday marked the 28th time the Capitals have played on New Year's Day. Washington is 17-6-3-1 all time on Jan. 1. ... Washington scratched D Nate Schmidt while Ottawa scratched D Fredrik Claesson. ... Washington has now won four straight against Ottawa and has earned points in seven consecutive games against the Senators.