Less than three minutes after McMichael’s winner, Alex Ovechkin hit the empty net for his 886th goal, putting him within single digits — nine goals — of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894. It also was the 1,600th point of the captain’s career.
“It’s our second game when we have a slow start,” Ovechkin said, referring to Friday’s comeback win over Detroit. “I think all four lines, kind of sleepy. But [the win] is a good feeling. The first shift in the second period kind of wake us up. You can see in the third period, we have plenty of chances to score. Great job by [John Carlson] finding Mikey out there.”
Charlie Lindgren, who shut out the Kraken when the teams met in January in Seattle, made 30 saves for Washington (42-14-8). Joey Daccord stopped 20 shots for the Kraken (27-34-4).
Seattle recorded the game’s first four shots; newly acquired winger Anthony Beauvillier put the Capitals’ first shot on Daccord 4:25 in. Washington then went on an early penalty kill after center Dylan Strome hooked Eeli Tolvanen at the net front. (Tolvanen had worked in alone on Lindgren and still got a shot away that skittered along the goal line but stayed out.) The Capitals killed the penalty but kept fighting an uphill battle.
Seattle’s Shane Wright scored off a nice feed from former Washington standout Andre Burakovsky at 12:37. At that point, the shots on goal were 12-4 in favor of the Kraken.
“First two [periods], not very good,” Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery said. “Then just grind our way through in the third and find a way to win.”
In a similarly slow start Friday, Washington trailed 2-0 but scored before the first period ended to start building momentum toward a 5-2 victory. On Sunday, it took 35 seconds into the second period, when defenseman Martin Fehervary scored off the rush to tie it. Winger Aliaksei Protas fed Fehervary, the trailer in the sequence, with a backhand pass from the left faceoff circle to set the defenseman up for his fourth goal — and his third since Feb. 22.
Just over two minutes later, Strome fired a shot from the top of the circles that beat Daccord cleanly and gave Washington its first lead.
“[Winger Andrew Mangiapane] did a great job of screening,” said Strome, who played his 500th NHL game. “[Defenseman Rasmus Sandin] had a great play where he took it down low and then found me back up high. Just tried to get it past the first guy. It’s always nice to help out and contribute and a pretty cool milestone.”
But the Capitals’ momentum didn’t last long. Seattle began to pull Washington apart in transition, forcing turnovers in the neutral zone and using its speed to apply significant pressure. That pressure resulted in just one goal — a tying tally by Jordan Eberle at 7:23 — but the ice was clearly tilted in the Kraken’s favor. Among the eight saves Lindgren had to make in the period was a stop of Jared McCann on a breakaway.
“We gave up a ton of rush chances,” Carbery said. “It just felt, standing there, like they were just flying through the neutral zone at us. I know this might not be the case, but [Seattle] looked like the fastest team we’ve played all season long.”
The Capitals went back on the penalty kill 1:25 into the third period when winger Tom Wilson was boxed for tripping. Washington killed the penalty but still struggled to generate much progress.
What already had been a physical game erupted at 6:28. Wilson and the Kraken’s Josh Mahura tangled in the corner, with Mahura holding on to Wilson’s stick as he went to the ice, and Seattle’s Mikey Eyssimont entered the fray with a bump on Wilson that got everyone on the ice involved. The Capitals’ Brandon Duhaime jumped in and yanked Tye Kartye out of the scrum, throwing a few forearms at Kartye’s head after getting him to the ice, and Wilson and John Hayden were so intent on dropping the gloves that the linesmen had to force each of them into the penalty box.
“I think that was exactly what turned up the heat,” McMichael said. “Guys got into it, and we didn’t want to back down to anyone on their team.”
After all was sorted out, Duhaime received four minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, sending him to the dressing room for the rest of the game. Everyone else on the ice received a penalty, which put the Kraken on a two-minute power play. The Capitals killed the penalty, and seconds later McMichael hit the crossbar.
After that, the teams traded scoring chances. But at 15:44, the Capitals pulled back into the lead when McMichael tipped Carlson’s slap pass from the point past Daccord.
The Kraken pulled Daccord for an extra attacker with just under two minutes left and Ovechkin on the ice. Washington worked hard to get the puck out of its defensive zone, and from center ice near the penalty boxes, Ovechkin scored into the empty net on his backhand to get even closer to Gretzky.
“What I’ve learned with O is you never underestimate,” Carbery said.
“When the goalie is pulled, we’re all thinking it,” Strome said. “I’m sure everyone else is thinking it, too. It’s still a pretty skilled play to go backhand through a guy’s leg or stick and find a way to score that. Nine more.”
Riding a four-game winning streak, Washington headed to the airport after the game to fly to California for a three-game road trip that begins Tuesday at Anaheim.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing, honestly, that we’re going out to California,” Carbery said. “Good opportunity to get away from home, play three games out there. They’re spaced out as well, with days in between. It’ll be good to get out there.”