Justin Sourdif scored the game-winning goal at 1:42 of overtime as the Washington Capitals erased an early three-goal deficit to beat the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Saturday night.
On the deciding goal, Sourdif cut to the net to follow up his own shot from the right circle and buried a loose puck while defenseman John Carlson was providing traffic in front.
Jakob Chychrun’s game-tying wrist shot goal from the high slot with 6:42 left in regulation brought Washington completely out of a 3-0 deficit and forced the extra session.
Hendrix Lapierre and Dylan Strome also scored and Aliaksei Protas had two assists for the Capitals, who are 3-1-1 in their last five games since a four-game skid.
With goaltenders Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren both sidelined due to injuries, Clay Stevenson made 19 saves in an emergency start for Washington. The Capitals also had a short-handed skater lineup without Connor McMichael, Martin Fehervary and Matt Roy.
Mark Jankowski, Sebastian Aho and Shayne Gostisbehere built Carolina’s 3-0 lead by the 4:16 mark of the second period before the hosts started their comeback.
Frederik Andersen stopped 38 shots in the losing effort for the Hurricanes, who are 5-0-2 in their last seven.
Washington had a 42-22 advantage in shots, including all three opportunities in overtime.
After making a penalty kill in the opening five minutes, Carolina took a 2-0 lead out of the first period despite being outshot 19-12.
Jankowski opened the scoring at 13:27, burying a point-blank chance from the low slot. After Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s backhand lob from the blue line kept the puck in, William Carrier gloved it down and fed a feed to Jankowski across the crease.
Aho doubled the Hurricanes’ lead with 2:09 left in the first, taking the puck off Carlson’s flubbed pass and scoring a glove-side wrister from the left circle.
Carolina netted its first shot of the middle period at 4:16, as Gostisbehere elevated a shot from the top of the left dot that beat Stevenson over his blocker.
After Andersen saved Lapierre’s deflection and a follow-up shot in front back-to-back, the fourth-liner knocked in a third opportunity to bring the Capitals within 3-1 at the 7:52 mark. It was Washington’s 23rd shot of the game.
An abbreviated 5-on-3 kill fueled Strome making it a one-goal game with 5:02 left before the second intermission. Protas made a great feed off the wall, and Strome redirected it five-hole on Andersen.
–Field Level Media
