POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 4, Canes 3 (SO)

Night Rally - For the fifth time in their last six games, the Caps rallied from a third-period deficit to earn at least a point on Friday night in Carolina, winning 4-3 in the shootout. In a thrilling and entertaining contest that felt a lot like a playoff game to those watching and participating, Washington pulled even on an Alex Ovechkin power-play goal with 5:04 remaining in regulation, and it went on to win when Ovechkin was the only scorer in the shootout.

"You don't want to keep doing that, that's for sure," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of his team's recent spate of late comebacks. "I like the way we played tonight. I don't think we necessarily let down, and all of a sudden we find ourselves behind in the game.
"But, at that point you're down 3-2 going into the third, and you've got to find a way. Guys played extremely hard tonight, and we got a big win."
Both the Caps and the Canes were playing for the second time in as many nights, and both were missing important players who were injured playing the night before - T.J. Oshie sat out for the Caps with a lower body injury as did Jordan Martinook for the Hurricanes. Washington's woes got worse when the Caps lost center Nic Dowd late in the second period and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk midway through the third.
"Everybody's dealing with injuries," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "But some guys are out of the lineup already, and then you lose a couple of guys during the game. You played [the previous] night, you traveled back-to-back; they're dealing with the same thing. But it's always a little more challenging, especially when you do have to comeback from behind."
After yielding the game's first goal to Carolina's Seth Jarvis, the Caps took a 2-1 lead with a pair of goals just 3:13 apart, a laser of a snipe from a nearly impossible angle from Evgeny Kuznetsov, followed by John Carlson's one-timer on a perfect tee-up from Connor McMichael.
In the second period, the Canes regained the lead on a pair of forechecking goals, the second of which came with just 12.4 seconds left in the second. Last-minute goals against can be daggers, but the Caps came out in the third undeterred by the late Carolina marker.
"We felt really good about our game," says Carlson. "The last five minutes or so, or six, seven minutes [of the second], they weren't our best. But they weren't that bad, either. We felt confident in our game and how it was going for us, and when things go well, you prove to yourself your capabilities. Mentally, you're focused on one thing, and that was just another example of that as well."
Washington doubled up the Canes in shots on net (40-20), the Caps' largest shot differential of the season. All that shot volume finally paid off when Ovechkin tied the game on the power play late in the third. Even with all the shots the Caps were pouring on the Carolina net, Ovechkin had no shot attempts in the game's first 40 minutes before tying the game on the 5,999th shot of his NHL career, a wrist shot from the top of the circle.
"It came right to him, and he just got it through like four guys," says Canes defenseman Brett Pesce. "That's why he's the best goal scorer of all time. He doesn't need much time and all he needs is one chance."
Friday's setback leaves the Canes with a three-game losing streak (0-2-1), their longest since losing three straight in regulation from Nov. 28-Dec. 2. The first loss of that previous skid also came against the Caps in Raleigh, a 4-2 loss in a Sunday matinee on Nov. 28.
"Tonight, we never got our game going at all," laments Canes' coach Rod Brind'Amour. "From start to finish, it just never felt like we were in a groove. So give the other team credit; they got right to their game and stuck with it, and we were kind of chasing it, even though we were ahead.
"There's teams that play fast, and Carolina is one of them," says Laviolette. "And so you have to play at that speed. If you don't, then you don't have the puck and you're not in the game. Our guys, I thought we did a good job of putting the hammer down."
Point Breeze - Two weekends ago, the Caps set out for a three-game tour of Western Canada and a stretch of six games in six cities and three time zones, scattered over an 11-day stretch. That grinding patch of the schedule came to an end on Friday, and on an off day on Saturday, the Caps can look back with satisfaction at pulling 11 of a possible 12 points from that stretch, despite trailing in the third period in five of those six games.
Friday's win was Washington's fourth straight, matching its longest streak of the season to date. The Caps won four in a row from Nov. 8-14.
The win over the Canes was also the Caps' 20th road victory of the season, tied for the most in the NHL. Washington's .703 road points percentage is second only to Pittsburgh (.710), and the Caps have now won three straight games on the road, and are 9-2-1 in their last dozen games away from the District.
Metro Run - Friday's win finished off a clean sweep of three straight games against Metropolitan Division opponents for the Caps. Washington's 13-5-1 record (.711 points percentage) against its fellow divisional denizens is the best mark within the Metro this season.
Great Eight Update - In addition to scoring his 39th goal of the season and the 769th goal of his NHL career to tie the game in the third, Ovechkin scored power-play goals in consecutive games for the second time this month (March 3-5 and March 17-18).
With his goal on Friday, Ovechkin passed Luc Robitaille (1,394 points) to become the highest scoring left wing in NHL history. In surpassing Robitaille, Ovechkin now stands in sole possession of 22nd place on the League's all-time scoring list.
Next up on that list for Ovechkin is Jari Kurri (1,398), who is in 21st place.
Sometime To Return - With Oshie unavailable for duty on Friday, winger Mike Vecchione stepped into his spot on the right side of a line with Nicklas Backstrom and Anthont Mantha.
For the 29-year-old Vecchione, Friday's game marked his debut in a Caps sweater. It also marked his return to the NHL for the first time in just under five years.
After starring at Union College for four seasons - where he played with former Cap Daniel Carr - Vecchione signed as an undrafted free agent with Philadelphia, getting into two late season contests with the Flyers after finishing up his senior season at Union in 2016-17. His last NHL game before Friday was on April 9, 2017 with the Flyers.
At the time of his recall from AHL Hershey, Vecchione was the Bears' third leading scorer with 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists). In his Caps debut on Friday, Vecchione skated just 5:06 scattered over 10 shifts, but he managed to get three shots on net during that time.
Down On The Farm -The AHL Hershey Bears were on the road on Friday night as well, facing the Senators in Belleville. The Bears earned a point in a 3-2 overtime loss.
After falling down 1-0 in the first, the Bears pulled even on Mike Sgarbossa's power-play goal -his 10th of the season - with a solo assist from Bobby Nardella.
Early in the second, the Bears took a 2-1 lead on Aliaksei Protas's fifth goal of the season at 1:27, Shane Gersich and Brett Leason assisting. But that was as good as it got for the Bears on this night.
Belleville squared the score midway through the second, and after a scoreless third, the Baby Sens won it in the final minute of overtime on Roby Jarventie's game-winner.
Pheonix Copley stopped 32 shots in the Hershey nets, earning the third star designation but falling to 14-8-4 on the season.
The 29-22-5-3 Bears are right back at it on Saturday, facing the Laval Rocket in a matinee match, Hershey's third game in as many days.
By The Numbers - Carlson led the Caps with a season-high 28:07 in ice time on Friday … Mantha led the Caps with five shots on net and Daniel Sprong led Washington with seven shot attempts … Tom Wilson led the Caps with five hits … Seven different Caps skaters combined for seven blocked shots in the game … Connor McMichael won nine of 15 face-offs (60 percent).