Alex Ovechkin scored twice, and the Washington Capitals rallied past old coach Bruce Boudreau and the visiting Vancouver Canucks 6-4 on Monday night for their second consecutive victory.
Ovechkin’s first two goals of the season, 56 seconds in and with 2:58 left in regulation, bookended the Capitals blowing a lead and coming back. Dylan Strome got the comeback started with a power-play goal early in the third, continuing his strong start with his new team, before John Carlson tied it and Conor Sheary put the Capitals ahead.
Winger Connor Brown, a newcomer like Strome, exited with an apparent right leg injury after going into the boards awkwardly early in the third. The team said Brown had a lower-body injury.
Down a skater, the Capitals were still able to get back into the game with goals from Carlson with 11:17 left in regulation and Sheary with 7:16 remaining, avoiding what would have been their worst four-game start in nearly a decade.
Next up, Columbus. pic.twitter.com/CyYbpTO2F7
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 18, 2022
They spoiled Boudreau’s latest chance to reach 600 career regular-season NHL wins. Despite a goal and two assists from Elias Pettersson, the Canucks blew a two-goal advantage for a third consecutive game, all losses, to start the season 0-3-0.
Washington’s Darcy Kuemper rebounded well after whiffing on the puck on a bad bounce to give Pettersson a gift goal with 7.3 seconds left in the first. He finished with 26 saves.
Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko allowed six goals on 30 shots.
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Lars Eller also scored for Washington, taking advantage of a big bounce off the end boards 8 seconds into the second.
Up next, the Canucks make their fourth stop on a five-game trip Tuesday night at the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Capitals are set to travel to Canada’s capital to face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
