The Washington Capitals’ chances looked bleak early Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena after they dug themselves a three-goal deficit in the first period against the Calgary Flames. They extricated themselves from it in the second period with three goals of their own. But the Capitals ultimately ran out of answers for Calgary’s Elias Lindholm.
Lindholm completed his hat trick in overtime, lifting the Flames to a 4-3 win as the Capitals settled for one point.
Lindholm beat Ilya Samsonov in the extra session, taking a feed from Johnny Gaudreau and getting the puck through the Capitals netminder with 2:14 remaining.
The Russian netminder replaced Vitek Vanecek to start the second period after Vanecek allowed three goals on 14 shots in the game’s opening 20 minutes. Samsonov finished the game with 14 saves.
Washington dropped to 3-0-2 and will play at the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
Withe Capitals facing a 3-0 hole to start the middle frame, Evgeny Kuznetsov got the scoring started for the hosts with a shorthanded score at 2:55 of the second. Rookie Martin Fehervary then trimmed the deficit to one with his first NHL goal at 7:48 of the period.
Alex Ovechkin then equalized, ripping a wrist shot from the left circle with 1:57 left in the second. It was the captain’s fifth goal, giving him 735 in his career and putting him just six behind Brett Hull for fourth on the NHL’s all-time list.
The Flames opened the scoring with Andrew Mangiapane’s rebound goal on the power play at 9:27 of the first. Lindholm doubled the Flames’ lead 92 seconds later with his first tally of the night. His second was a flashy shorthanded goal after he powered past John Carlson at 17:18 of the first.
This was the first time this season the Capitals gave up the first goal and trailed in regulation.
Here’s what to know about the Capitals’ loss:
Kuznetsov continues to flourish
Kuznetsov extended his strong start with his fourth goal. He stole the puck from Gaudreau, slipped it between Dan Vladar’s pads and watched it slowly trickle over the goal line.
It was Kuznetsov’s third career shorthanded goal and first since March 26, 2018. Kuznetsov has nine points (four goals and five assists), which is one behind Ovechkin for the team lead.
“He has kind of bounced back, and he’s in the right direction,” Ovechkin said of his teammate. “It is good for us, good for him, and it is kind of fun to play with him. Fun to see his smile and fun to see what he can do on the ice.”
Ovechkin, with five assists, is five shy of 600 for his career. He also has at least one point in each of Washington’s first five games.
Rookies make their case
Fehervary’s strong start to his NHL career continued with his first goal.
The snipe came off a drop pass from Tom Wilson. Fehervary started the season on the top defensive pair with Carlson and has been one of the team’s best blue-liners to open the year. The 22-year-old played the majority of last season for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey, Pa.
Connor McMichael, who had five shots on goal and 10 attempts overall, also had a strong afternoon. The young center has gotten multiple high-danger chances in the offensive zone in his past three starts. Saturday was his third straight game as third-line center after 19-year-old Hendrix Lapierre was given the nod the first two games.
Vanecek struggles
After a strong showing in his first three games, Vanecek had trouble with his rebound control against the Flames. The Czech goaltender let in three goals on 14 shots.
“It was just to change the game,” Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said of pulling Vanecek. “Vitek, you look at the goals that were scored, there were some nice goals. . . . It’s not like you fault him on the goals. But in the same sense, you’re trying to change the game and shake the game up.”
Samsonov stopped all four shots he faced in the second period. He made a couple of timely third-period saves, specifically on Gaudreau’s breakaway chance five minutes in and then one on Lindholm late with his left pad.
Samsonov’s only action this season came earlier in the week against Colorado, when he started and made 24 saves on 27 shots.
Mixed bag on special teams
Washington converted 3 of 6 power-play chances in its opener against the New York Rangers. Since then, the team has gone 0 for 14. The Capitals have given up two shorthanded goals, including Saturday’s first-period stunner from Lindholm.
Washington’s power play was 0 for 4 on Saturday. The Capitals had no shots on goal in their first opportunity of the day, then allowed the shorthanded goal on their second attempt.
“There was a conversation yesterday just to try to raise the standard a little bit [on the power play], what we are doing out there, our execution, things that maybe we can do to create a little bit more,” Laviolette said before the game.
The Capitals, despite Kuznetsov’s shorthanded strike, have also had trouble on the penalty kill. Washington has allowed a power-play goal in four of its five games to open the season.
