It took 12 excruciating rounds. But when goalie Olie Kolzig stopped a slap shot from Edmonton’s Sheldon Souray he finally put an end to the shootout and continued the Capitals’ stellar homestand.
Neither team scored in overtime and each goalie made 11 straight saves in the shootout before Caps forward Matt Bradley put his team on top with a backhand shot past Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson. After one last save from Kolzig, Bradley was an unlikely hero and the Caps had a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Oilers at Verizon Center on Thursday.
The Caps (20-21-5) rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 and survived a game-tying third-period goal by Edmonton forward Shawn Horcoff. They are now 3-1 on a five-game homestand that concludes Saturday against the Florida Panthers. More importantly, the Caps pulled within four points of Southeast Division leader Atlanta (23-22-3, 49 points), which lost in a shootout to Montreal.
That’s how close the Caps are to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, an improbable thought after their 6-14 start led to the firing of coach Glen Hanlon on Nov. 23. The second line, playing without center Michael Nylander, who had season-ending shoulder surgery earlier this week, was again productive. Wingers Alexander Semin (goal) and Tomas Fleischmann (assist) and new center Boyd Gordon (two assists) all contributed. That line has produced nine points in the past two games without Nylander. Semin’s goal came with just 52 seconds left in the second period was one of four the Caps scored in that frame.
