Dylan Strome leads Capitals to OT win vs. Red Wings in pivotal matchup
The Washington Capitals have grown comfortable living on a knife-edge, and they’re going to keep living there for a while longer.
Nearly every game, they can sense that their playoff hopes — and, thus, the outlook for their season — hang in the balance. But while each matchup takes on extra significance at this time of year, with three weeks left in the season, no game has seemed more meaningful for Washington than Tuesday night’s meeting with the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena.
The Capitals came into the night holding the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Red Wings in the wild-card race with one game in hand. With a regulation win, Washington would have moved three points clear of Detroit for the second wild-card spot, but a tying goal with just over five minutes left by Detroit’s Patrick Kane forced overtime and gave each team a point.
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Dylan Strome made sure Washington got two. His goal at 1:55 of overtime gave the Capitals a 4-3 win and moved them two points clear of the Red Wings, still with a game in hand.
“We just stuck with it,” Strome said. “Kind of what we’ve been doing since the all-star break — just hanging in there, battling and find a way to get it done, whether it’s late or in overtime or whatever it may be.”
Goalie Charlie Lindgren, appearing in his 100th NHL game and making his 38th start of the season, stopped 30 shots for the Capitals (36-26-9, 81 points), who have won three in a row. Alex Lyon made 26 saves for the Red Wings (36-29-7, 79 points). Washington also is just one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers (36-27-10, 82 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division; the Capitals have two games in hand there.
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Detroit had the jump in the first few minutes, including an early power play after defenseman Rasmus Sandin was boxed for interference just 57 seconds in. But once the Capitals found their footing, they began to tilt the ice in their favor. Though it took Washington nearly 11 minutes to register its first shot on goal — a redirection by Alex Ovechkin that nearly sneaked through Lyon’s pads — by the end of the first period, the shots were even at seven apiece and the Capitals had the momentum.
Center Nic Dowd translated that into a go-ahead goal 2:09 into the second, beating Lyon from the high slot through a screen provided by winger Beck Malenstyn. When Washington played in Detroit at the end of February, the Capitals got an up-close look at how the Red Wings can take over a game with their speed and skill during an 8-3 rout. After Dowd scored, it was all Detroit for the rest of the period.
Alex DeBrincat tied the score at 4:53, putting the puck through Lindgren’s legs after beating winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel to the prime real estate in front of the crease. On the first shift after DeBrincat’s goal, the Capitals put pressure on Lyon and threatened to retake the lead, but their response was short-lived.
Detroit racked up 20 shots in the middle frame, and Lindgren did everything he could to keep the game tied and give Washington a chance. Defenseman Martin Fehervary swept a loose puck out of the crease after a shot by Dylan Larkin trickled through Lindgren, but the Red Wings continued to attack.
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After Lindgren made five saves in just 39 seconds with Detroit on the power play late in the period, David Perron poked the puck past him on the Red Wings’ sixth try as Lindgren fell over amid the chaos in the crease at 19:17.
“We battled hard,” Strome said. “Chuckie made some unbelievable saves. Even on their second goal there, he makes like three Grade A saves, highlight-of-the-night-type saves, and they get a bounce that goes in.”
“It’s tough,” Coach Spencer Carbery said. “You’re going to go through ebbs and flows in a game. They’re going to carry momentum. They’re going to put you on your heels. I thought they did a good job of battling through that, especially when we needed it into the third period. We ain’t going quietly into the night down 2-1. We’re going to come out and push you, and that’s exactly what we did.”
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Just 35 seconds into the third period, center Connor McMichael picked up the puck at the back of the net and tucked it past Lyon to tie the score — and then celebrated with Ovechkin draped over his shoulders, both feeling the significance of McMichael’s 17th goal.
“In between periods, the second and third, we talked about how we needed to get more traffic in front,” McMichael said. “You look at their first two goals — they were both battles in front, and they were a little heavier on their sticks. That’s what we talked about. I just wanted to get to the blue paint.”
Strome needed a little over four minutes to put Washington back in the lead with his career-best 24th goal. A rebound of a shot by defenseman John Carlson landed at Strome’s feet on the back door, and he one-touched a backhander past Lyon.
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But with 5:20 remaining, Kane was left alone in the high slot and fired a slap shot off a feed from DeBrincat that sailed over Lindgren and tied the score again. The Capitals didn’t panic.
“It’s kind of what Kane does, right? He scores those big goals,” Strome said.
In overtime, Strome redirected a pass from Carlson over Lyon to increase his goal total to a career-high 25. With his arms outstretched, screaming “Let’s go!” toward the rafters, Strome skated toward a giddy mass of teammates to celebrate what might be Washington’s biggest victory of the season.
Strome is known for keeping up to date on his teammates’ statistical milestones, but he didn’t need any help with his own achievement.
“I knew that one [by] heart,” he said. “Feels good. ... I haven’t scored that much in the second half, but team’s playing well, team’s winning, Ovi’s scoring, right? Happy to chip in and contribute. We’ll take a big two points and go two ahead.”
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