Eller, Capitals defeat Canucks in OT, Ovechkin remains tied with Jagr

VANCOUVER -- Lars Eller scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Friday.

Eller finished a 2-on-1 with a shot between Thatcher Demko's legs to give Washington (32-18-10) its fourth win in five games (4-0-1) after a 4-3 overtime loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday that also ended with a 2-on-1.
"That's how it goes these overtimes. It's almost better to force a turnover instead of having possession sometimes," Eller said. "Whoever forces that turnover, they're going to get a 3-on-2 or a 2-on-1 or a breakaway, and that's usually where the most quality chances come, and tonight we were on the right side of it and some games we're not. But it was a big character win for us."
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin had an assist and six shots on goal but did not score and remains tied with Jaromir Jagr with 766 goals for third place in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801).
"He will get there," coach Peter Laviolette said. "He's working at it. I thought he played a good game."

Washington blew a 2-0 lead in the third period, but Evgeny Kuznetsov completed his second NHL hat trick with a power-play goal with 4:53 left to tie it 3-3.
"Nobody was panicking, nobody was reaching," Kuznetsov said. "It was always positive. We always believe in each other."
John Carlson had two assists, and Vitek Vanacek made 23 saves for the Capitals.
Bo Horvat scored twice, Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Demko made 30 saves for the Canucks (29-23-7), who lost for the first time in four games (3-0-1) and second time in the past eight (6-1-1).
"Obviously we're happy to fight back at the end of the third but ultimately we wanted those two points, and all the points from here on out are going to be huge for us," Horvat said. "I thought it was great character by us to come all the way back and get that point. Just unfortunate that we couldn't get the job done."
Canucks forward J.T. Miller had two assists to extend his point streak to 11 games (23 points; seven goals, 16 assists).
Kuznetsov gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 5:34 of the first period when Nick Jensen shot the puck around the end boards and it hit a stanchion behind the Vancouver net, bounced out front and in off Kuznetsov's shoulder.
Kuznetsov made it 2-0 at 6:17 on a power-play goal that looked like it might move Ovechkin past Jagr. Ovechkin's one-timer hit the post, bounced off Demko and was wobbling into the net before Kuznetsov swiped it in off the goal line.
"'Kuzy's got to put that in," Laviolette said. "They've got a defender right there ready to swat it out. I'm not sure if it gets there or not and if he doesn't touch it, the guy comes in and knocks it out of the crease, so he 100 percent did the right thing. Alex will get his goal. He needed to put that one in the back of the net to make sure."

Demko kept it close in the second period, stopping Ovechkin on a partial break, gloving an Oshie shot from the slot and stopping Dmitry Orlov on a 3-on-1. The Canucks scored three straight goals in the third period to take a 3-2 lead.
"I thought 'Demmer' kept us in the game in the second with a couple of huge saves, and then we really poured it on in the third," Hughes said.
Hughes cut it to 2-1 at 57 seconds on a screened point shot, Horvat tied it 2-2 on a power-play one-timer at 3:19, and Horvat made it 3-2 at 4:59, tapping in a rebound atop the crease for his 20th goal of the season.
"Early in the season and last year we would have, I don't want to say folded, but we just would have found a way not to come back," Hughes said. "It feels like we're building something as I look around the locker room and guys are really [ticked] off about the loss, as they should be. … Tomorrow morning or the next day I might look at it as good to come back, but honestly right now it doesn't feel like that, and that might be a good thing. The culture is changing a bit."

NOTES: Kuznetsov has scored seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. His other hat trick was in a 7-4 win at the Oilers on Oct. 23, 2015. … Kuznetsov passed Calle Johansson to move into 10th place in Capitals history with 475 points. … Carlson has nine assists in his past six games. … Horvat has scored at least 20 goals five times in the NHL. He extended his point streak to five games (eight points; three goals, five assists) with three straight multipoint games. … Miller's point streak in the longest for Vancouver since Henrik Sedin scored in 12 straight games in 2013-14. … Hughes has scored seven points (one goal, six assists) in a four-game point streak and 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past 10 games. … Washington was 2-for-3 on the power play to improve to 12-for-39 (30.1 percent) in the past 11 games.