Capitals edge Red Wings to end skid, move into wild card

DETROIT -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 30th goal for an NHL-record 18th season, and the Washington Capitals moved into a Stanley Cup Playoff spot with a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.

Ovechkin scored with eight seconds left in the second period to pass Mike Gartner, who reached the milestone in 17 of his 19 NHL seasons before retiring in 1998.

“It’s pretty big,” Ovechkin said of the 30-goal seasons. “It’s (about) consistency, obviously, health, and my linemates and teammates who find me out there in open ice.”

Charlie Lindgren made 43 saves to help Washington (37-30-11) end a six-game losing streak (0-4-2). The Capitals hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins. All three teams have four games remaining.

“We knew how important this game was,” Lindgren said. “Obviously, we’re coming off a few games in a row where we were on the wrong side of it and playing against a team right next to us in the standings.

“I felt like it was a must-win situation.”

Lindgren made 30 saves in a 4-3 overtime win against the Red Wings at home on March 26, the Capitals’ last win before Tuesday.

“Maybe we could have gotten more traffic around him, but you just have to tip your hat to their goaltender,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “He was outstanding.”

Patrick Kane scored, and Alex Lyon made 21 saves for Detroit (38-32-8), which has lost six of eight (2-4-2).

“We’re all just trying to process this game,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “There are a lot of emotions right now. I thought we played well, but that goalie just has our number right now.

“It’s very frustrating.”

The Red Wings outshot the Capitals 17-8 in the first period but couldn’t beat Lindgren.

“We were able to weather the storm there and settle in,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “[Lindgren] made some massive saves.”

Dylan Strome gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 17:47 of the second period, scoring short side from the right face-off circle after J.T. Compher had blocked his first attempt.

Ovechkin made it 2-0 on the rush with his milestone goal. T.J. Oshie collected the puck at the Capitals’ defensive blue line and banked it off the left boards to Ovechkin, who snapped a wrist shot past Lyon from the top of the left face-off circle.

“Oshie [made] a tremendous play on the blue line, and I was kind of 2-on-1,” Ovechkin said. “I knew there was maybe 15 or 20 seconds left in the period, and I tried to shoot the puck and hope it goes in. I’ll take it.”

The 38-year-old forward has scored 30 goals in all but one of his 19 NHL seasons. He scored 24 in 45 games in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.

Ovechkin has 852 goals, 42 behind Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.

“He finds a way to score,” Strome said. “… When he sees a spot in the net, he’s going to put it home. Nice milestone, and yeah, I mean, we obviously needed the goal.”

Lindgren stopped Dylan Larkin on a breakaway 1:30 into the third period, and Detroit forward David Perron hit the post at 7:41 with the Red Wings on a power play.

Oshie was called for hooking with 4:12 to play, but the Capitals killed the penalty.

Kane cut it to 2-1 with two seconds left, ending Lindgren’s bid for his sixth shutout of the season.

Red Wings forward Andrew Copp broke his cheekbone after being hit by Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s stick at 14:06 of the third.

“[The officials] said they didn’t see it,” Lalonde said. “My understanding was they can review a play if there is an injury, but there wasn’t any blood, so you can see how it happens.”

NOTES: Ovechkin has 39 points (24 goals, 15 assists) in 35 games against the Red Wings. … The Capitals are 7-2-0 at Little Caesars Arena since the Red Wings moved into the venue for the 2017-18 season. … Detroit failed to score a 5-on-5 goal for the fourth time in eight games.