Their star left wing was thousands of miles away dealing with a serious family illness.
But this year’s version of the Capitals was built with the depth to withstand such a loss — at least for a few games. That’s about as long as any team wants to go without an NHL MVP on the ice.
The Caps again gave up a third-period lead on Tuesday night at Verizon Center when Nashville center Jason Arnott scored with 6 minutes, 36 seconds left to play to tie the game. But, after a scoreless overtime period, Washington responded in the shootout as goalie Jose Theodore stopped Martin Erat on the Predator’s final attempt to secure a 4-3 victory at Verizon Center.
With star left wing Alex Ovechkin home in Russia with his gravely ill maternal grandfather, the Caps (5-3-1) received goals from right wings Alexander Semin and Viktor Kozlov. David Steckel also added a short-handed tally.
But leads have become tricky devils for Washington over the last week. Three times on the team’s recent road trip it entered the second or third period ahead by a goal. Three times that advantage vanished. It happened again on Tuesday.
“You always worry when you outshoot a team in the first period and you don’t have a substantial lead,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “In sports it always comes back to haunt you.”
Arnott tied the game at 3 when he redirected a shot from teammate Ryan Suter at 13:24. Nashville had turned around a 26-11 shot deficit by outshooting Washington 15-6 in the third thanks in part to three power plays.
But Theodore (23 saves) was strong, making several fine stops on the penalty kill to keep his team ahead. He allowed just one goal in the shootout and stoned Erat on Nashville’s final attempt.
“Every time you win in the shootout I think the emotion takes over,” Theodore said. “As a goalie, it’s a challenge that I like. … It’s fun to know that if you make the save you win the game.”
The Caps were ahead 1-0 in Calgary last Tuesday and gave up two quick goals to start the second period in a 2-1 loss. Two days later in Phoenix a 1-0 advantage vanished in four minutes, this time early in the third period of another 2-1 defeat. And at Dallas on Saturday, Washington blew leads of 2-1, 4-2 and 5-4 — the final dagger a Mike Modano goal with just 57 seconds remaining.
But the Caps eventually won that contest on an overtime goal by Semin, who was again a factor vs. Nashville with a go-ahead power-play goal at 1:58 of the third and an assist on Steckel’s shorthanded goal in the first. Semin — at least prior to Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin’s late game at San Jose last night — leads the NHL with 16 points and is tied for first with eight goals.
“He’s been really, really good all year and it’s great to see,” Boudreau said. “It’s great to see the emotion on him when other linemates and teammates are scoring. I really believe he is coming of age now. He is coming out of his shell a little bit.”
The Caps scored twice in the first period. Kozlov, still playing with a sore left knee, took two whacks at a puck that floated in front of Nashville goalie Dan Ellis (29 saves), knocking the second attempt home for a 1-0 advantage. That even-strength score came at 12:13.
Just 3:25 later, Steckel created a breakaway on the penalty kill, losing control of the puck as he tried to deke Ellis. Instead of being in position to stop a backhand shot, the puck never made it that far, sliding between Ellis’ pads for a 2-1 lead. It was a big moment for Steckel, who responded after being scratched from the lineup Saturday at Dallas.
“We get a huge effort from Dave Steckel coming back and it was a team win,” said Caps left wing Brooks Laich. “We wanted to prove we were a good hockey team [without Ovechkin] and we had some great players that did it tonight.”
The Caps dominated the first period with a 19-4 shots-on-goal advantage. Nashville’s one tally came at 13:59 on the power play when Ville Koistinen blasted a point shot over the left shoulder of Theodore.
The shot discrepancy continued in the second period as the Caps finished up 26-11 and produced several quality chances against Ellis. But they couldn’t finish and a sloppy back pass in the Caps zone by defenseman Mike Green led directly to Arnott’s first goal, which tied the game at 2 at 11:21 of the second.
In the shootout, Semin and Koistinen each scored during the first three rounds. But Michael Nylander beat Ellis with a backhanded flip to put Washington ahead, setting up Theodore’s stop on Erat.
“They have a lot of talent. They’re a very good team,” said Ellis. “Even missing their star player they played a heck of a game tonight. They came out banging on us.”
