Capitals squeeze past Canucks

T.J. Oshie, Brett Connolly and Jakub Vrana each scored a goal as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Tuesday night. Washington, trying to rebound from a seven-game losing streak, has now won two of its past three games. The Canucks lost for the second consecutive night, as they fell 2-1 in Philadelphia on Monday.

The Capitals swept the two-game season series with the Canucks, having posted a 5-2 win in Vancouver on Oct. 22. There were a few emotional moments early when the Capitals played a video tribute to faceoff specialist Jay Beagle, now with Vancouver, who helped Washington win the Stanley Cup last spring.

Washington goalie Braden Holtby played a third straight strong game and finished with 30 saves. He stopped a second-period penalty shot from Bo Horvat to keep the Capitals in front. The Capitals took a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game on Oshie's goal. He stole the puck in the Vancouver end and eventually scored by knocking the rebound of a Nicklas Backstrom shot past Jacob Markstrom (28 saves).

Alex Ovechkin made the pass that set up the Backstrom shot, and the Washington captain earned an assist on the play. That made him the all-time leader in points amongst Russian NHL players (1,180). Sergei Fedorov previously held the record. Connolly made it 2-0 with his goal 5:47 into the third period, but the Canucks answered just over two minutes later.

Antoine Roussel made a quick backhand pass from the right wing that Markus Granlund deflected past Holtby. The Capitals then got some insurance when Vrana (one goal, one assist) scored with 7:47 left. Elias Pettersson cut the Canucks' deficit to 3-2 on his goal with eight seconds left, but the Capitals held on.

The Canucks and coach Travis Green also confirmed that defenseman Alex Edler, taken off the rink in the Philadelphia loss, sustained a concussion but no facial fractures and will be out at least a week. Backup goalie Thatcher Demko tweaked something Monday night and was back in Vancouver for an MRI exam Tuesday. Also, Canucks winger Sven Baertschi saw a doctor Tuesday and will be out for about a week due to an illness.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)