The narrative flipped a few times between the Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
First it seemed like Alex Ovechkin would power Washington to a big win with his two goals. Then it seemed like the Kings would ride a three-goal third-period outburst to a rueful outcome for the Caps. Ultimately, the Kings overcame a late goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov for a 5-4 shootout win.
Caps climb ... a bit
Washington finishes with 80 standings points, with the East’s wild card situation seeing all kinds of activity thanks to this loss, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ win against the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs dropping their sixth in a row against the St. Louis Blues. (More on that muddy playoff picture in a future PHT post.)
The Capitals appeared to lose Nicklas Backstrom during the game, which could be an especially big concern now that they’re in every-game-counts mode.
Streaky Kings
With this, the Kings now own a four-game losing streak.
Los Angeles has been interestingly streaky lately. Since Jan. 28, they lost four in a row, won eight straight, dropped three consecutive games and now find themselves on this four-game run. It’s doubtful that they’ll catch the San Jose Sharks or Anaheim Ducks for the first or second spot in the Pacific Division, yet they’re making a compelling case for the Sharks and Ducks to do what they can to avoid a first-round matchup with them.
More on the game
While Ovechkin’s three-point night (he added an assist after those early tallies) seemed like more of the same, the Kings received contributions from players both obvious (Dustin Brown with one goal and one assist) and less expected (Dwight King scores his 14th goal of the season, adds 15th assist).
Curiously, Caps fans took their hats off for Kuznetsov’s first career NHL goal, not his first career hat trick:
It was an odd scene late in that game, as the overtime included some tumultuous moments, including a big collision between Alex Ovechkin and Jack Hillen. Hillen was able to leave the ice under his own power, at least (eventually).