Marcus Johansson scored a pinpoint goal in overtime as the Washington Capitals snatched a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre.
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The 32-year-old offered his ninth victory in 10 games.
It’s not for lack of trying, but Alexander Ovechkin hasn’t found the back of the net in his last four games. He still had two assists against the Senators and set a National Hockey League (NHL) record by directing a 6,211th shot on an opposing net.
Still looking for his 801st career goal, the Russian had a goal “stolen” by his teammate Sonny Milano. As the puck quietly moved behind the red line on a shot from Ovechkin, the former Anaheim Ducks hit the puck.
For his part, Tim Stutzle obtained an assist on his return to the game, he who missed the last four games, on the tying net of Drake Batherson in the third period.
It was Alex DeBrincat who had offered the lead to his team. Evgeny Kuznetsov added Washington’s other net to his record.
Kaapo Kakko, the hero
At Madison Square Guardian, the Rangers won the final round of the 2022-23 Battle of New York season by beating the Islanders 5-3 thanks to Kaapo Kakko’s game-winning goal.
The “Isles” had emerged triumphant from the first two duels, earlier this year, and this is already the last face-to-face between the two formations of the Big Apple.
Kakko made sure to end this saga on an exclamation point by completing the beautiful entry into the territory of Alexis Lafrenière and K’Andre Miller. Rangers then took the lead with just under three minutes to go.
In the backhand, former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexander Romanov scored his first goal in an Islanders uniform.
Jaccob Slavin completes a comeback
In Pittsburgh, the Carolina Hurricanes came from behind in the third period and beat the Penguins 4-3 in overtime thanks to defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
With five minutes left in the game, it was Jordan Staal who brought everyone into overtime with a spinner behind the net that outpaced “Pens” goaltender Tristan Jarry. In extra time, Slavin completed a superb play initiated by Seth Jarvis and Brent Burns to beat Tristan Jarry at close range.
For his part, Bryan Rust scored late in the third period and surely thought he was credited with the winning goal. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring and came within a net of 20 this year.
The reply of the “Canes” came from the stick of Martin Necas in the second period. Less than 15 seconds later, Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield imitated Canadiens forward Anthony Richard in scoring his first NHL goal at the age of 26.
A mistake costs the Jets dearly
In Boston, a bizarre second-period goal helped the Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2.
Trailing 2-0, the “Oursons” tied the game in the second period with two quick wins. David Pastrnak first scored one of the easiest goals of his career. A clearance from Nick Foligno ricocheted off the metal partitions of the bay window before ending up in front of the cage abandoned by Connor Hellebuyck. The Czech only had to push the puck into the ropes.
Jake DeBrusk deftly deflected a Pastrnak power-play throw-in to level the score. At the same time, he reached the plateau of 200 points in the National League.
Foligno netted the winner midway through the third period.
Hellebuyck did well despite everything with 36 saves. His teammates Mark Scheifele and Jansen Harkins hit the target.