ANAHEIM, Calif. — T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom scored in the shootout, and the Washington Capitals stopped the Anaheim Ducks‘ franchise-best winning streak at 11 games with 2-1 victory Monday night in a meeting of regular-season heavyweights.
Andre Burakovsky scored the tying goal early in the third period for the NHL-leading Capitals, who also ended Anaheim’s eight-game home winning streak with their sixth consecutive victory over the Ducks.
Braden Holtby made 27 saves and stopped two more shots in the shootout. Oshie atoned for an overtime penalty with the U.S. Olympic shootout star’s fourth goal in five shootout attempts this season, but after Corey Perry scored to keep the Ducks alive, Backstrom ended it.
Ryan Getzlaf scored on Anaheim’s first shot, and John Gibson stopped 30 shots.
One game after Anaheim punctuated its spectacular post-Christmas surge by taking away the Pacific Division lead from the Los Angeles Kings with a gritty victory at Staples Center, the Ducks still earned a point in their 14th consecutive game since Feb. 8.
The longest winning streak in franchise history ended, but Anaheim is 18-1-2 over its past 21 games and 25-4-3 since Christmas.
Getzlaf put the Ducks ahead 60 seconds after the opening faceoff with his 10th goal of the season, slipping a rising shot through traffic during a delayed penalty to Alex Ovechkin. The goal was the seventh in 16 games for the Anaheim captain, who managed just three goals in his first 42 games of the season.
The teams played high-level hockey for most of the ensuing 39 scoreless minutes. The Ducks tried to match centre Ryan Kesler‘s line against the Capitals’ powerhouse top line, and Ovechkin didn’t manage a shot on goal in the first two periods.
But Burakovsky evened it 41 seconds into the third with his 14th goal of the season after some sharp passing by the Caps. Both teams had decent chances late in regulation, but Gibson stopped Mike Richards‘ point-blank backhand with 1:11 left to force overtime.
NOTES: Bruce Boudreau, the Capitals’ former coach and the Ducks’ current boss, was honoured during the game for his 400th career victory two days ago. Boudreau won four consecutive division titles in his first NHL coaching job in Washington, but won just two playoff series before getting fired. The Ducks hired him two days later, and he has won three straight Pacific Division titles along with three playoff series, falling one game short of the Stanley Cup Final last summer. … The Ducks visit Washington on April 10 for the regular-season finale. The game was postponed from Jan. 22 after a massive snowstorm hit the D.C. area. … Getzlaf’s goal was his 10th of the season, giving him double-digit goals in each of his 11 NHL seasons.
