The Washington Capitals defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at Capital One Arena and are now two points away from 100 on the season. Alex Ovechkin didn't score so he remains eight shy of passing Wayne Gretzky's all time goals record. But several others stepped up.
Once again the Caps used an offensive third period
Dylan Strome struck first to get the Caps up 1-0 at 6:36 with his 22nd goal of the season. John Carlson and Rasmus Sandin had the helpers with their 41st and 22nd assists, respectively.
Dylan Larkin tied things up with his 28th goal of the season. That came at 12:28 and 1-1 would be the score after one. The Caps outshot the Red Wings 14-5.
The second period was scoreless as the Caps were outshot 11-5. In the third period the Caps scored three unanswered goals. It was similar to their four goal outburst just 11 days ago.
Pierre-Luc Dubois struck for his 18th goal of the season at 8:16 to give the Caps the lead for good. Aliaksei Protas notched his 31st assist while Jakob Chychrun had his 25th.
At 14:21 it was Tom Wilson who put a stamp on the game with his 30th goal of the season. Protas added his 32nd apple while Martin Fehervary had his 16th. For Wilson it is his first 30 goal season of his storied Caps career.
At 15:27 Connor McMichael got in on the fun with his 24th goal of the season. Alex Ovechkin had the primary assist for his 22nd while Dylan Strome had the secondary for his 45th helper of the year.
The Caps led in shots 7-6 in the third period and 26-24 overall. Logan Thompson got the win in net with 23 saves and a .958 save percentage. Detroit had the edge in face off percentage 57.5 percent to 42.5 percent. Caps were only outhit 21-20.
Detroit had 18 blocked shots compared to Washington's 11. The Caps had 18 giveaways compared to the Red Wings 13. The Caps had four takeaways compared to the Red Wings five.
With the win the Caps record improves to 45-15-8 with 98 points. The Red Wings drop to 32-30-6 with 70 points and find themselves in a three way tie for fourth place in the wild card. They are three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot.
The Caps would face that second wild card if the playoffs were to start today. A lot can change in the final month of the regular season. The Red Wings could very well go on a run and the Caps could see them. Or they could face the Habs.
The New York Rangers are lurking behind the Canadiens in that third wild card spot with 72 points. The Red Wings are tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders.
Next up for the Caps is a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network. You can also listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7.