Bryan Little scored the game-winner in a shootout, as the Jets used a late surge to earn a 3-2 comeback win over the Capitals on Thursday.
Trailing 2-0 with less than three minutes to play, Winnipeg got goals from Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien in a span of 12 seconds to force overtime.
Alexander Ovechkin, who had a goal in regulation for the Capitals, and Blake Wheeler opened the shootout with goals. Ondrej Pavelec then stopped Alexander Semin before Little scored with a wrister. Pavelec sealed the Jets' second straight win by shutting the door on Mathieu Perreault. He finished with 32 saves.
"We didn't really quit," said Byfuglien. "We stuck with it and we battled."
Semin had a third-period goal in the Southeast Division showdown. Tomas Vokoun had 25 saves for the Capitals, who are tied atop the division with Florida. Their 61 points are three ahead the Jets.
The game was scoreless through two periods, as Pavelec turned aside 24 shots and Vokoun made 15 saves over that span.
In the third, both teams took advantage of the power play to provide a scintillating finish. Midway through the period, Semin fired a slapshot from the left circle. The blast was wide left, but it caromed off the boards and Ovechkin found it on the right side and drove home the rebound
Ovechkin returned the favor at the 12:30 mark, slicing the puck from the left circle through traffic to a waiting Semin, who sent an easy one-timer home for a 2-0 lead.
With time dwindling, the Jets found themselves on the two-man advantage and Kane sent a rebound past Vokoun amidst a scrum with just 2:15 remaining. The tying goal was nothing short of a fluke, as Byfuglien slapped a shot from center ice, which deflected off a Washington defender and awkwardly skipped over the shoulder of Vokoun.
"You get beat by a long shot, it's one of those plays that happens in hockey," Capitals coach Dale Hunter said of Byfuglien's goal. "It goes for you sometimes and it goes against you sometimes."
Game Notes
