Washington scored twice in a 32-second span late in the third period and Lars Eller tallied 2:01 into overtime to lift the Capitals to a 5-4 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon.
Jan 5, 2020; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals center Lars Eller (20) scores the game-winning goal on San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) in overtime at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Capitals had to overcome a second-period hat trick from San Jose’s Evander Kane and a late 4-2 deficit.
Captain Logan Couture seemed to seal it for the Sharks on an empty-net goal for that two-goal edge with one minute left in the third period. Washington, however, trimmed the deficit after Jakub Vrana’s second of the game with 47 seconds left before T.J. Oshie tallied with 15 seconds left.
Goalie Braden Holtby then stopped two breakaways in overtime and made a pass that started the rush on Eller’s goal. Eller took a cross-ice feed from defenseman John Carlson and fired a high shot past goalie Martin Jones. The assist was Holtby’s first of the season.
Flames 5, Wild 4 (SO)
Mark Giordano tied the game with less than six minutes left in the third period and Dillon Dube recorded the shootout winner as Calgary beat Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn.
Calgary, which also got goals from Milan Lucic, Travis Hamonic and Michael Stone, has won back-to-back contests for the first time since a seven-game run from Nov. 27-Dec. 12. The Flames’ David Rittich stopped 30 shots and six of seven in the shootout.
Marcus Foligno scored twice for Minnesota, which has lost three of four.
Lightning 3, Hurricanes 1
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy won his fifth straight decision by stopping 28 shots as Tampa Bay pushed its winning streak to seven games with a victory against host Carolina in Raleigh, N.C.
Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point scored as the Lightning completed a perfect four-game road swing. Nikita Kucherov notched two assists, and Stamkos also had an assist.
The Hurricanes, who were playing the first game after the midway mark of their schedule, have lost five of their last seven games. They have three games remaining on a seven-game homestand.
Panthers 4, Penguins 1
Frank Vatrano and Mike Hoffman each had a goal and an assist Sunday as visiting Florida topped Pittsburgh.
Brett Connolly and Evgenii Dadonov also scored for Florida, and goaltender Chris Driedger made 31 saves for the Panthers, who have won seven of 10 and finished a road trip 2-2-0.
Jared McCann scored for Pittsburgh, which had its five-game point streak (4-0-1) snapped. The Penguins failed to improve on their NHL-best 16 home wins. They also had won eight in a row at home against Florida.
Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 2
Adam Boqvist scored the go-ahead goal with 10:13 remaining in the third period and goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 19 of 21 shots to rally host Chicago past Detroit.
Making his first start in nearly two weeks, Crawford earned his first victory since Dec. 6 as he spelled Robin Lehner, who is day-to-day with a right knee injury after making the past four starts for Chicago. The Blackhawks have won four of five and six of eight.
The Red Wings, who lost for the eighth time in nine games, also lost defenseman Trevor Daley, as he left the ice after taking a shot to his ankle.
—Field Level Media
