Capitals Stage Thrilling Comeback to Defeat Rangers 3-2 in Overtime; Ovechkin Inches Closer to Gretzky's Record as Wilson Seals Victory with OT Winner trucc

The Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers by a score of 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night to improve to 40-14-8 (.710 points percentage) this season. Captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 885th career NHL goal and now needs only nine to tie Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 15 saves in the win.

Washington’s Lines

Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Ethen Frank

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Lindgren
Logan Thompson

• Scratched
  • D Dylan McIlrath
  • D Alexander Alexeyev
• Injured
  • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
  • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
  • RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Washington placed left-wing Jakub Vrana on waivers on Wednesday ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 PM ET on Friday. Raddysh and Frank switched spots in the lineup.

New York’s Lines

Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — J.T. Miller — Mika Zibanejad
Brennan Othmann – Juuso Parssinen — Jonny Brodzinski
Brett Berard — Sam Carrick — Matt Rempe

K’Andre Miller — Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen — Braden Schneider
Calvin de Haan — Zac Jones

Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick

• Scratched
  • LW Arthur Kaliyev
  • RW Reilly Smith
  • D Matthew Robertson
• Injured
  • LW Chris Kreider (upper-body)
  • C Adam Edstrom (lower-body)
  • D Adam Fox (upper-body)

New York held Smith, a pending unrestricted free agent, out of the lineup for a second consecutive game.

First Period

Scoring

• 1:04, 1-0 Washington: Wilson picked the puck up off the draw, deked around Borgen, fed it to Dubois in front, and Dubois tipped it under the crossbar and in. Dubois’ five game-opening goals this season rank first on Washington and are tied for 15th in the NHL. Dubois has recorded 11 points (four goals) in his last eight games. Wilson has recorded 13 points (seven goals) in his last 11 games.

• 13:37, 1-1: Jones ripped a wrist shot from the high left dot that got tipped in by Panarin in the slot after Lafreniere flew into the offensive zone and flipped the puck to Jones behind him.

Stats

• 8-7 Washington in shots
• .684 New York on faceoffs
• New York failed to score on a double-minor power play opportunity
• 16-8 New York in hits
• 8-2 Washington in blocked shots

Second Period

Scoring

• 8:05, 2-1 New York: After K’Andre Miller caught the pick rimming around the boards, he fed Carrick in the slot. Carrick deked and buried one on the backhand with Lindgren swimming in the goal crease.

• Duhaime and Carrick danced with 7:06 left.

• Roy dumped Parssinen in front of Lindgren 2:04 later after Roy punched Othmann along the end boards.

Stats

• 15-13 Washington in shots
  • including 7-6 in second
• .595 New York on faceoffs
• New York went 0-for-four on the power play in the first 40 minutes
  • Washington did not score on their first two opportunities
• 26-15 New York in hits
• 15-8 Washington in blocked shots
• 12-3 Washington in giveaways

Chart: Natural StatTrick

Third Period

Scoring

• 10:28, 2-2 (PPG): Ovechkin dragged and wristed a shot under the blocker of Shesterkin after Mangiapane got a pass by McMichael from the right half-wall and went to the net. Ovechkin scored his 885th career NHL goal and is nine away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s record. Ovechkin has passed Steve Yzerman (595) for the 11th-most power-play points in NHL history. 16 of Ovechkin’s 32 goals this season have come in the third period. Ovechkin has scored 10 goals in his last 12 games. Mangiapane has tallied 10 points (five goals) in 11 career games against New York, including three (one) in three games against the Rangers this season. McMichael has tallied five points (two) in his last four.

Stats

• 24-16 Washington in shots
  • including 9-2 in the third
• .576 New York on faceoffs
• Washington scored once on four power play opportunities
  • New York was held scoreless on four
• 36-22 New York in hits
• 19-14 Washington in blocked shots
• 14-4 Washington in giveaways

Overtime

Scoring – 4:07, 3-2 Washington: After Zibanejad missed a pass across to J.T. Miller at one end, Wilson got the puck and led a two-on-one rush with Strome. The two played catch, Strome curled and dragged, fed Wilson, and Wilson tipped the puck over the blocker of Shesterkin. The goal was Wilson’s 28th of the season, two of which coming in overtime (6-5 win at New Jersey Devils on October 19). It was his fifth career overtime winner. With his 43rd helper of the campaign, Strome has established a new single-season career high in assists (previously: 2022-23). Strome has factored on eight of Washington’s last 10 overtime goals (three goals). Strome also scored the game-deciding shootout goal in the Capitals’ 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday.

Shots: 26-17 Washington, including 3-1 in overtime

The Capitals, who played their last game before the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 PM ET on Friday, earned their league-leading 20th comeback win of the season. It also marked Washington’s sixth third-period comeback win of 2024-25. The Capitals allowed 17 shots on Wednesday, the second-fewest shots they have allowed in a game this season (10/31/2024 in 6-3 win vs. Montreal Canadiens: 15).

Washington extended their lead over the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan Division by 12 points with each team down to 20 games to go in the regular season. They are also nine ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, who will have both played 62 by Wednesday night’s end, for first in the Eastern Conference.