Tom Wilson scored 26 seconds into overtime, and the Washington Capitals overcame a two-goal deficit and a late blown lead to beat the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Evgeny Kuznetsov made a rush to the net, where Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck (27 saves) got in the way, but Wilson banged the puck home to give Washington its first overtime victory in eight decisions this season. Alex Ovechkin scored his 27th goal for the Capitals, who halted an 0-2-1 home rut and improved to 2-3-2 in January.
With the game tied 2-2 after two periods, Washington was the beneficiary of some luck just 4:15 into the third. Aliaksei Protas couldn’t complete a wraparound attempt, but the puck glanced off the skate of Winnipeg’s Nate Schmidt, then off Hellebuyck and in to give the hosts their first lead of the night.
However, after pulling their goalie, the Jets equalized with 1:05 left in regulation when Pierre-Luc Dubois converted on an Adam Lowry pass through the blue paint
Washington’s Dmitry Orlov also had a goal and Vitek Vanecek settled down to stop 30 shots after allowing two goals over the first 2:20 of the game.
Kyle Connor registered his team-leading 21st goal and an assist while Cole Perfetti posted the first of his NHL career for the Jets, who had won four of five, but were playing just their fifth game over a 30-day stretch.
Things could not have started better for the Jets, who were on the power play just 22 seconds into the contest. At the 1:02 of the first, Connor converted the rebound of Andrew Copp’s missed shot. Less than 1:20 later, Perfetti took a Dubois set-up from a long stretch pass to beat Vanecek.
Ovechkin cut the Jets’ advantage in half when he easily wristed a pass from Garnet Hathaway by Hellebuyck with 3:02 left in the first. It was Ovechkin’s 757th goal, leaving him nine back of Jaromir Jagr for third on the NHL’s all-time list.
Washington tied the game 4:26 into the second period through Orlov’s drive from the point.
–Field Level Media