Sourdif scores in OT, Capitals rally past Hurricanes

WASHINGTON -- Justin Sourdif scored at 1:42 of overtime, and the Washington Capitals rallied from a three-goal, second-period deficit for a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Frederik Andersen made the initial save on Sourdif, but he knocked in the loose puck at the right post to help the Capitals win their second straight game for the first time since a six-game streak Nov. 24-Dec. 3.

The goal was confirmed after video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room for goalie interference.

“It was pretty cool,” Sourdif said. “I made a couple of mistakes there in OT so I’m glad it worked out. I was actually trying to change and then we kept getting odd-man rushes so I stayed out there. You can’t take those for granted.”

Jakob Chychrun had a goal and an assist and Aliaksei Protas had two assists for the Capitals (27-22-7).

Clay Stevenson, starting his first game this season and second in his career, made 19 saves for his first NHL win. He started because of injuries to Washington goalies Logan Thompson (upper body) and Charlie Lindgren (lower body).

“Even when we were down three, I said to myself on the bench -- [Rasmus Sandin] was sitting next to me, I was so close to turning to him and telling him, ‘It just feels like we’re winning this game,’ when we were down three," Chychrun said. "We just had a great first, had a great second, and just kept pushing.”

Mark Jankowski, Sebastian Aho and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for the Hurricanes (33-15-6), who have a seven-game point streak (5-0-2) and are 9-1-3 in their past 13. Andersen made 38 saves.

“We sure didn’t get to [our game] from opening puck drop to the end,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a 60-minute game where we were that bad. Somehow, we managed a point. Literally there’s zero way we should have. They dominated us from start to finish.”

Chychrun tied it 3-3 at 13:18 of the third period, scoring on a stick-side wrist shot from the high slot off a pass from Protas.

“We had some goals obviously in the first but for the most part they were creating a lot of shots and a lot of opportunities, and we didn’t have an answer for that tonight,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said.

Jankowski gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 13:27 of the first period. William Carrier gloved down the puck and passed to Jankowski, who scored on a snap shot from in front.

Aho made it 2-0 at 17:51. Capitals defenseman John Carlson fanned on a pass attempt above the left circle and Aho got the puck, skated into the slot and put a snap shot past Stevenson.

Gostisbehere pushed it to 3-0 at 4:16 of the second period when he scored over Stevenson’s right shoulder with a wrist shot from along the wall for his third goal in two games.

“It was just one that catches me off guard,” Stevenson said. “You can’t really see it and then it’s in the back of your net and we’re down three. I have a really good next-puck mindset and just try to do my job to give them faith to keep pushing and they did that.”

Hendrix Lapierre cut the deficit to 3-1 at 7:52, putting in his own rebound in front when Andersen was unable to control the puck.

Dylan Strome pulled the Capitals within 3-2 at 14:58 when he tipped in a centering pass from Protas.

Washington then outshot Carolina 16-5 in the third period and overtime.

“Zero intensity,” Brind’Amour said. “We wanted to get through the game and that’s very rare for this group. … Freddie made some big saves to keep us alive, but it is what it is. Move on.”

NOTES: The Capitals recorded their first three-goal comeback win since a 4-3 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Jan. 16, 2023. … Chychrun has seven points (one goal, six assists) in a four-game point streak. … Sourdif has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in his past 14 games. … Aho has 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 34 career regular-season games against the Capitals.