Last-minute flight

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Someone got sent to the penalty box for playing with a broken stick, and someone else scored a goal from centre ice.

Unusual moments like that can produce crazy results, and that's exactly what happened when the Winnipeg Jets -- a team with seemingly no offence to speak of -- mounted a two-goal comeback in the final 135 seconds of regulation, then prevailed in the shootout for a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

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"We haven't had a lot of luck lately," Winnipeg coach Claude Noel said. "So, for us, we'll take that and we'll run with it."

The bizarre turn of events tighten the race in the Southeast Division that appears on pace to produce only one playoff team. The Capitals and Florida Panthers, who beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1, are tied atop the standings with 61 points, and the Jets are only three behind.

So much for the momentum the Capitals had after beating the Panthers 4-0 on Tuesday to vault into first by themselves.

"We should have had the hockey game," Washington centre Brooks Laich said. "It's disappointing to lose it that way."

Laich was the player whistled for playing the puck with a broken stick, the call coming shortly after Roman Hamrlik was sent off for slashing while the Capitals held a late 2-0 lead. In the furious moments of a penalty kill, Laich didn't know there was a problem.

"I tried to clear the puck right away and wasn't aware that it had snapped," Laich said, "and he made the call."

The 5-on-3 became a 6-on-3 when the Jets pulled the goaltender, and the resulting pressure on the Capitals net produced the inevitable goal when Evander Kane knocked in a loose puck with 2:15 to play.

Then, 12 seconds later on a 5-on-4 advantage, defenceman Dustin Byfuglien was simply trying to dump the puck into the offensive zone from centre ice. His hard drive was deflected by defenceman Karl Alzner and hopped past goaltender Tomas Vokoun -- a goal measured at 82 feet.

"They dumped the puck in off my stick and it went in the net," Alzner said. "Pretty simple, and pretty stupid. Pretty unfortunate."

It was Byfuglien's first goal since Dec. 9, and it gave the Jets back-to-back power-play goals after they went seven games without one. The Jets had scored only eight goals in those seven games.