Caps Fall Late in Detroit, 3-1

Andrew Copp's first goal as a Red Wing snapped a 1-1 tie late in the third period and stood up as the game-winner as Detroit downed the Caps 3-1 on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. Copp's goal - the only 5-on-5 goal Washington surrendered in the game - came at 16:10 of the third, and the Caps were unable to convert on their final power play opportunity of the evening just seconds later.

Alex Ovechkin scored the Caps' lone goal of the game, his sixth of the season and the 786th of his NHL career, tying former Red Wings great Gordie Howe (786) for the most goals with a single franchise.
"It's huge obviously," says Ovechkin. "I played my whole career in Washington and to be tied with that legend, it's a pretty big number and a pretty cool accomplishment."
Copp's late goal spoiled one of Washington's best overall efforts of the young season and prevented the Caps from picking up at least a point, something they were able to do in each of their previous two games in shootout and overtime losses, respectively.
"It's tough," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of the outcome. "It's 1-1 going into the third, and you keep pushing and keep punching, and it's just a tough way to go down. We didn't win the third period, that was the mission."
The first period was a quiet one with few scoring chances on either side, though the Caps likely had a slight edge in that regard.
Soon after the first television timeout of the second period, Ovechkin caught up with Mr. Hockey in Hockeytown, settling a cross-ice feed from Evgeny Kuzntesov and firing it past the glove hand of Ville Husso at 7:11 of the first to stake Washington to a 1-0 lead.
"Obviously, it's an incredible record," says Laviolette. "Not many people will do that, to play that long for an organization, and certainly not score that many goals. I wish that it could have been in a winning effort for him, but an incredible feat."
Detroit answered back on a power play in the back half of the middle frame. The Wings put continuous pressure on the Caps in the offensive zone, moving the puck around and narrowly missing on a couple of good looks. Eventually, Dominik Kubalik got the puck to Lucas Raymond at the back door post and the latter was able to slam it home from there, tying the game at 1-1 at 14:58 of the second.
"They made a nice double-seam play, and I was committed to the first one-timer," says Caps goalie Darcy Kuemper. "He made a nice pass, and unfortunately it connected."
Washington has seemingly played nothing but tight hockey in its first dozen games of this season, and Thursday's game was no exception. In the third period, the two sides kept going at one another, seeking the elusive go-ahead marker.
The Caps couldn't convert on a power play early in the third, and Husso made an excellent stop on Dylan Strome from slot just ahead of the midpoint of the period, Kuemper matched Husso save for save until Copp -- a Michigan native who signed with the Wings as a free agent in July -- finally broke the stalemate on a Detroit forecheck, taking a feed from Adam Erne behind the Washington net and chipping it past Kuemper from just above the paint.
Dylan Larkin's late empty-netter accounted for the 3-1 final.
"These ones suck," says Kuemper. "The guys played really hard tonight. Probably most times - if not [all] - we would get a different outcome, but it was just one of those nights. Unfortunately, we were one short. It didn't go our way."
In their first dozen games of the season, the Capitals have played 597 minutes and 27 seconds of hockey with the scored tied or within one goal either way, the second highest total in the NHL. Only San Jose (623:05) has played more minutes in those situations, and the Caps have spent 82.2% of their season to date with the score that close.
"I think that's a credit to the guys, that we've been in every game," says Kuemper. "Every night it feels like we're giving ourselves a chance. That's what you want to do, and if we keep doing that, outcomes will start coming our way."
Notes - Ovechkin's goal was also the 400th road goal of his NHL career, making him just the second player in NHL history to reach that milestone. Only Wayne Gretzky (402) has scored more goals on the road.
Ovechkin's goal was also the first marker of the game, the 64th time in his career he has scored the game's first goal, putting him one behind Brett Hull (65) for the top spot all-time in that category.
In his seven games in the new Detroit building, Ovechkin has totaled seven goals and 10 points, and he has managed some previous milestones in the Motor City during Little Caesars' relatively short history. In Washington's first-ever visit here on Oct. 20, 2017, Ovechkin scored the 20th overtime game-winner of his NHL career to pass Jaromir Jagr for the most overtime game-winners in NHL history. That goal was Ovechkin's 10th of the season and it came in the Caps' eighth game, marking the fastest he had ever reached the double-digit level in his career.
On Nov. 30, 2019, Ovechkin had a hat trick - including two empty-netters - in a 5-2 Caps victory, reaching the 20-goal plateau in the Caps' 28th game of that season. With that hat trick, the 24th of his NHL career, Ovechkin became just the fifth player in League history to record 20-goal campaigns in each of his first 15 seasons in the circuit.
Ovechkin also became the 15th player in league history to record two empty-net goals in the same game, and the sixth player in league history to complete a hat trick with a pair of empty-netters. With those two dozen career hat tricks, Ovechkin passed Jari Kurri for the most hat tricks in league history by a European-born player.
On Dec. 31, 2021, in the Caps' most recent visit to Motown before tonight, Ovechkin scored his 275th career power-play goal to surpass Dave Andreychuk for the top spot all-time in career power-play tallies.
Additionally, Ovechkin's power-play goal that night proved to be the 119th game-winning goal of his NHL career, moving him ahead of Phil Esposito (118) for sole possession of third place on the League's all-time game-winning goals ledger.
Finally, Ovechkin added an empty-netter in a 3-1 Washington victory in that New Year's Eve contest, notching the 154th multi-goal game of his career, tying him with Mario Lemieux (154) for third place on that list.
"Obviously, it's a very cool arena and a nice atmosphere," says Ovechkin of Little Caesars Arena. "So it's cool to play here."
Thursday's loss was the Caps' first ever at Little Caesars Arena; Washington went 6-0-0 in its first six games here since the building opened at the outset of the 2017-18 season.