The Washington Capitals put together an epic third period comeback behind their captain Alex Ovechkin inching closer toward history before winning it in overtime thanks to his best friend Nicklas Backstrom.
The lowly Ottawa Senators though got off to a good start to silence the home crowd. Thomas Chabot gave them a 1-0 lead at 1:22. The Caps led in shots 5-3 after one. Zach Sanford, former Caps prospect, doubled their lead at 6:07. 2-0 was the score after two with the Caps leading in shots 16-10 in the second.
At 1:39 of the third the Caps finally got on the board. Evgeny Kuznetsov passed the puck to Trevor van Riemsdyk. TvR then went down the ice behind the net before flipping the puck to Ovechkin who was in front of the net to bang it in for his 28th goal of the season.
The Caps would tie it at 9:43 on a nice set up from Backstrom behind the net to Ovechkin who was in front of the net. Ovechkin finished it for his 29th goal of the season. It was also goal number 759 of his career. He’s now seven away from number three Jaromir Jagr, 42 away from Gordie Howe and 135 away from Wayne Gretzky.
2-2 would be the score after regulation with the Caps leading in shots 10-9 in the third. They also outshot the Senators 2-0 in overtime with the second shot by Backstrom ending up as the game winner. The Caps led in shots 33-22 overall.
Backstrom would end it at 1:13 for his second goal of the season. Backstrom did it on a steal, drive to the net, then a backhander. It was all perfectly executed:
"“The puck was bouncing a little bit, so I was just trying to make it flat. Then I got too close to shoot I thought. You’ve got to trust a good old backhand sometime.”"
The Caps take on the Vegas Golden Knights tonight from Capital One Arena.