The Washington Capitals hosted the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night at Capital One Arena. Detroit entered the contest attempting to correct a four-game losing streak, while Washington looked to kickstart a new winning streak after their three-game losing skid last week. Things started well for the road team, but a quick strike third-period offensive outburst powered Washington to its league-leading 21st comeback win in a 5-2 victory.
Game Recap
The Capitals silenced a revved-up home crowd less than a minute into the game. Dylan Larkin scored from a nearly impossible angle from behind the goal line at the 43-second mark of the first period. Larkin’s 26th goal is second on the Red Wings behind Alex DeBrincat’s 29 goals through 62 games.
Six minutes later, Moritz Seider doubled the Red Wings’ advantage to 2-0 with a power-play goal at the 7:00 of the first period after Washington’s Trevor Van Riemsdyk was called for a holding infraction. Seider blasted a one-time pass from Patrick Kane past Capitals goalie Logan Thompson for his sixth goal of the season.
Washington sliced the Red Wings’ lead in half with under two minutes to play in the period. Goalie Cam Talbot thwarted Taylor Raddysh’s first shot attempt, but the veteran winger whacked a loose rebound across the goal line for a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission break.
The Capitals heavily outshot the Red Wings by a 9-4 margin, but neither team could change the goal total in the second period. Washington forward Pierre-Luc Dubois was whistled for a knee penalty with 42 seconds remaining in the second period.
The Capitals exploded for four goals, including two shorthanded scores, in the first half of the third period. Aliaksei Protas tied the game at 2-2 less than a minute into the final regulation period on a snapshot that sailed over Talbot’s glove and into the net. Sixty-five seconds later, Jakob Chychrun provided a 3-2 Washington lead on his 18th goal at 1:57. He is third in scoring by a defenseman trailing Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zachary Werenski (20 goals) and Colorado Avalanche blueliner Cale Makar (24). Chychryn leads NHL defensemen with his six game-winning goals this season.
Protas brought the crowd to their feet at 5:17 with his second goal on a wrist shot that beat Talbot on the blocker side for a 4-2 Washington advantage. Tom Wilson ’s shorthanded goal at 9:19 finished the scoring in a 5-2 Capitals win. The 11th shorthanded goal of Wilson’s career moves him past Brooks Laich for seventh place in the Capitals’ history books. Alex Ovechkin did not factor into the scoring in Friday night’s win in Washington.
