WASHINGTON -- Aliaksei Protas had two goals and an assist in the third period to help the Washington Capitals rally to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 at Capital One Arena on Friday.
The 24-year-old has 25 goals in 63 games after scoring six in 78 games last season.
“You can’t even fathom that that player had [just] six goals [last season],” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “It’s a testament to the work that he’s put in to just continue to get better and better and better.”
Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (41-14-8), who have won three in a row after losing three straight. Logan Thompson made 17 saves as Washington rallied from an early 2-0 deficit.
“It’s a pretty nice boost for our confidence moving forward,” Protas said. “I think we had a good second period. I think we had many good chances to tie the game, but it wasn’t there. In the third finally we broke it down and got a big win for us.”
Alex Ovechkin remains 10 goals from passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the most in NHL history, and with 1,599 career points, one shy of becoming the 11th player to reach 1,600 points.
Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider scored for the Red Wings (30-27-6), who have lost five straight and were coming off a 4-2 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday. Lucas Raymond had two assists, and Cam Talbot made 23 saves.
"We just got to get a win, get off the schneid, find a way to win and then continue to find ways to win, not find ways to lose,” Larkin said. “We're not scoring enough. We've got to get to the hard areas. Tonight, we didn't shoot. We had a good start, and then we stopped shooting the puck and that cost us.”
Larkin gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the first period, scoring from behind the goal line when his shot deflected in off Thompson’s mask.
Seider made it 2-0 at 7:00 when he scored five-hole on a slap shot from the top of the slot on a power play.
"Great start for us,” Red Wings forward Patrick Kane said. “You couldn't ask for a better start, and we got one on the power play and a 2-0 lead. We played well in the first, had some other looks too and just kind of lost momentum as the game went on.”
Taylor Raddysh pulled the Capitals within 2-1 at 18:39 when he knocked in his own rebound in front.
“I thought one of the key moments in the game was the Raddysh goal because it was not good in the first period,” Carbery said. “And the guys knew that. We needed something to give us a little momentum.”
Protas tied the score 2-2 with a short-handed goal 51 seconds into the third period when he gathered in a loose puck in the defensive zone, skated down the left side and beat Talbot far side from the left circle.
Jakob Chychrun gave Washington a 3-2 lead at 1:57, scoring through a screen from the point.
Protas made it 4-2 at 5:17, taking a tap pass from Connor McMichael on the rush and scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle.
“I think once we got to Caps hockey, once we got to executing our game plan, getting pucks in, wearing them down,” Wilson said. “Obviously they played yesterday so as we felt that momentum shift we were kind of just blood in the water and wanted to just keep taking it to them.”
Wilson pushed the lead to 5-2 at 9:19 when he scored Washington’s second short-handed goal of the night on a breakaway.
“A bad turnover and it’s in our net and then a few minutes later we get another opportunity and it’s in our net again, so that really sucks the life out of the group,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “If I was going to target anything when you’re playing three games in four nights, when you get up on the man advantage, you’d better be able to at least play even.”
NOTES: Washington earned its league-leading 21st comeback win of the season. … Protas and Wilson became the first Capitals players with two short-handed points in a game since Ivan Majesky (March 8, 2006). … McLellan said forward Carter Mazur, who left his NHL debut Thursday because of an upper-body injury, was placed on injured reserve and is “probably going to be out for some time.”
