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Capitals: Top 3 heroes against Avalanche

By Michael Marzzacco |
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 13: Lars Eller #20, Nick Jensen #3, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrate the go ahead goal by T.J. Oshie #77 against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 13: Lars Eller #20, Nick Jensen #3, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrate the go ahead goal by T.J. Oshie #77 against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
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DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Lars Eller #20, Nick Jensen #3, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrate the go ahead goal by T.J. Oshie #77 against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Lars Eller #20, Nick Jensen #3, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrate the go ahead goal by T.J. Oshie #77 against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

You missed these right? Well we’re back after another big Washington Capitals win with the top stars of the game.

The Washington Capitals overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche with three unanswered goals. Both goals were allowed in the first period and who else but Andre Burakovsky to open up the scoring?

The Caps got on the board with a power play goal from Nicklas Backstrom in the second period. They added two more in the third with Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie each deflecting in shots to help the Caps steal another road win. Braden Holtby stood tall in net with 32 saves.

They must’ve read our story about them being among the league’s worst power play if they were able to score two power play goals. We still have to wait for Alex Ovechkin to get his 700th goal which could come either in Arizona or Las Vegas.

Holtby had a .941 save percentage last night and improved his record to 21-11-4. It was another good outing that he needed and he’s won two of his last three games.

Winning was a team effort across the board but here are the top 3 heroes from Washington’s 3-2 win over the Avalanche.

DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals brings the puck off the boards against Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche in the second period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals brings the puck off the boards against Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche in the second period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom started the comeback in the second period. He noted to Rick Sadowski of NHL.com on the first period woes:

“I think it was not acceptable. The way we’ve been playing lately too, it’s not acceptable. We’ve been talking about details and stuff like that, and we’re going out in the first period and we’re not even there, and I think in this League you have to be aware of what you’re doing out there at all times. I think we bounced back pretty good after that and worked ourselves into the game.”

At 10:32 in the second period the Caps got a power play opportunity when Tyson Jost was called for high sticking Nicklas Backstrom. Backstrom made them pay with a good drive to the net. Jakub Vrana threaded the perfect pass from the other side of the boards to Backstrom before he banged it in at 11:37 for his 11th of the season.

That power play goal would be the first of two they would convert on five tries. Again, they must’ve saw the story and thought “oh no we’re a much better power play unit than that.” The key here to this power play execution is Jakub Vrana getting power play time. We’ll see V PPGs soon from the even strength king.

But again this is about Backstrom, who helped finish that play to start the comeback.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 10: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals and Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals look on against the New York Islanders during the second period at Capital One Arena on February 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 10: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals and Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals look on against the New York Islanders during the second period at Capital One Arena on February 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson earned the third star of the game but he’s the second star in our series. The Caps got a power play at 11:13 in the third period when Andre Burakvosky was called for high sticking T.J. Oshie.

Washington struck at 12:48 for their second power play goal of the night thanks to Tom Wilson redirecting in a shot from John Carlson to tie the game at two. Lars Eller helped set it up and got the secondary assist.

Wilson was all over the ice in 20:28 minutes of play. He won 50 percent of his draws, had three blocks, dished out a hit and had four shots on goal. He now has 17 goals on the season. He not only saw ice time on the power play but on the penalty kill as well and helped the Caps kill off three out of four penalties.

Tom Wilson’s goal was his fourth power play goal of the season which is a new single-season career high. He’s truly evolved in his game from an enforcer to an offensive threat on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

This was too easy honestly and the top star is none other than the one who had the game winner.

DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Lars Eller #20, Nick Jensen #3, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrate the go ahead goal by T.J. Oshie #77 against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Lars Eller #20, Nick Jensen #3, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrate the go ahead goal by T.J. Oshie #77 against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

T.J. Oshie

T.J. Oshie scored the game winning goal by deflecting in a shot from Nick Jensen in front of the net at 17:56 in the third period, exactly 2:04 left in the game. For Oshie, he extended his goal streak to three games and he’s recorded nine points in his last nine games with four goals and five assists. Oshie finished his night with 18:38 of ice time, dished out three hits and had two shots.

Oshie now has 22 goals on the season and is on pace for 30 goals which would be the most he’s scored since the 2016-17 season when he had 33 goals.

The Caps have won eight times this season when trailing after the second period which is tied with the Dallas Stars for the most in the NHL. The Caps also improved their road record to 21-6-1 which is the most road wins in the NHL.

Related Story. Capitals come back to defeat Avalanche. light

Washington will continue their road trip on Saturday night when they take on the Arizona Coyotes for a 10 p.m. puck drop. The road trip concludes on Monday night with a 6 p.m. puck drop in Vegas against the Golden Knights (times are eastern). Will Alex Ovechkin score twice to get 700? We shall see but expect it soon.

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