Vejmelka, Utah recover for shootout win against Capitals 

WASHINGTON -- Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves in relief, and the Utah Hockey Club recovered for a 5-4 shootout win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Sunday.

Vejmelka, who did not allow a goal in the shootout, entered the game at 12:38 of the first period after Connor Ingram sustained an upper-body injury on a slap shot by Alex Ovechkin. Ingram allowed two goals on 11 shots prior to the injury.

“He was assertive,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said of Vejmelka, who allowed six goals on 37 shots in a 7-3 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. “Never felt he was shaky. He wanted to play. He was confident.”

Josh Doan, Jack McBain and Dylan Guenther each had a goal and an assist for Utah (24-23-9), which finished its four-game road trip 3-1-0.

“We go a ton of chances tonight,” said forward Nick Schmaltz, who scored the only goal in the shootout. “I think we could have had six of seven goals tonight. We were generating a lot. Sometimes they don’t go in, but we stuck with it and found a way to get two points.”

Tom Wilson’s second goal of the game with 1:31 left in the third period tied it for the Capitals (36-11-8), who extended their point streak to six games (3-0-3) and enter the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off one point behind the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL lead. Logan Thompson made 23 saves.

Wilson tied it 4-4 on a redirection of Ovechkin’s feed from the slot.

“I think we played hard in the third,” Wilson said. “I think we took it to them and obviously proved to ourselves how hard we can play when we’re playing together and playing the right way. I think probably if we start at puck drop we’re walking away with different result, but good resiliency to try and get back into it.”

Ovechkin had three assists but remained with 879 goals in his NHL career, 16 from passing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time record. Ovechkin (1,593 points), who scored in his previous four games, passed Phil Esposito (1,590) for 11th on the all-time points list.

Doan gave Utah a 1-0 lead 1:10 of the first period when his shot from beyond the circles skittered past Thompson.

Michael Carcone made it 2-0 at 1:42, scoring from the left post off a pass across the slot by Guenther.

“I’m not in love with some of the ways we’re getting down in the games and having to fight our way back,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “If you play with fire and put yourself down in this league two goals consistently, it’s not going to end well.”

Wilson cut it to 2-1 on the power play at 3:47, completing a tic-tac-toe sequence with a shot from the circle off a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois below the goal line.

McBain made it 3-1 when he worked a give-and-go with Michael Kesselring and scored far side from the right post at 7:07.

Dubois cut it to 3-2 on a power play at 12:38. Ovechkin’s shot from the slot was stopped, but Dubois controlled the loose puck and tucked it past Ingram.

Ingram remained down on the ice and eventually headed to the locker room. There was no update after the game.

Guenther gave Utah a 4-2 lead at 2:47 of the second period, scoring on a slap shot far side from the left circle during a power play for his 20th goal of the season.

Dylan Strome cut it to 4-3 at 4:49 of the third, scoring on his own rebound after a pass from Ovechkin.

Washington outshot Utah 15-7 in the third.

“I think even when we got down 2-0, I feel like we knew we were going to come back and score,” Strome said. “Got a couple of power plays and got back in. Not a great second, [but we] battled hard in the third to get back in and grab a point.”

Vejmelka forced the shootout when he stretched out his left pad to deny Jakob Chychrun on a one-timer from point-blank range with 10 seconds left in overtime.

“We knew they were going to have a push back, but we stuck with it,” Schmaltz said. “[Vejmelka] made some great saves for us. Two points against one of the top teams in the League, we’ll take it.”

NOTES: Each team returns from the 4 Nations break Feb. 22. Utah visits the Los Angeles Kings; the Capitals visit the Pittsburgh Penguins. … It was Utah’s first shootout win of the season (1-2). … Utah tied Washington (Nov. 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets) for the fastest two goals to start a game this season. … Doan was loaned to Tucson of the American Hockey League after the game. … Defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok was claimed by Pittsburgh after being placed on waivers by Utah on Saturday. … The Capitals have a 15-game home point streak since Nov. 29 (10-0-5). … Strome extended his point streak to six games (eight points; four goals, four assists). … It was the 17th time Ovechkin had three assists in a game. He has 31 hat tricks.