The red hot Ottawa Senators rallied to complete a stunning 5-4 overtime triumph over the NHL-leading Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Jason Spezza scored two goals, including the game-tying wrist shot at 5:13 in the third period, and Alexei Kovalev notched the winner at 4:41 in the extra session as the Senators marched forward with a fifth straight triumph.
“The thing I like is that we’re resilient,” Ottawa coach Cory Clouston told reporters. “They scored on the second shift of the third period and then our power play came up big for us.”
Ottawa initially seized control of the contest in the first when Peter Regin and Chris Campoli netted goals to help the visitors build a 3-1 lead.
Alexander Semin scored Washington’s first two goals to take his season tally to 37, with Mike Green and Mathieu Perreault also finding the net to give the home team a 4-3 advantage 24 seconds into the third.
The Capitals (49-15-12) have already secured top seeding in the Eastern Conference, but their hopes of claiming a first Presidents’ Trophy have been hampered by a run of three straight losses.
The Senators (42-30-5), meanwhile, maintained their secure hold on fifth spot in the East as they look to return to the playoffs after missing out a year ago.
In-form goaltender Brian Elliott entered the game having posted two shutouts in his last four outings but against the potent Capitals’ attack he allowed four goals and had 17 saves.
“They don’t make it easy on you,” Elliott said. “I didn’t have one of my best nights, but it shows that we are becoming a pretty good team when your goalie doesn’t have his ‘A’ game — or close to it — but we can still pull out a win.”
Alex Ovechkin led Washington with five shots.
Ottawa were able to convert three of four power-play opportunities with the clincher coming after Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom was called for tripping with less than 33 seconds left in the OT.
CANUCKS 4, COYOTES 1
At Vancouver, Henrik Sedin scored a short-handed goal and added two assists for Vancouver to regain the NHL scoring lead.
Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin also scored, and Roberto Luongo finished with 32 saves as the Canucks moved seven points ahead of Colorado atop the Northwest Division.
BRUINS 1, DEVILS 0, OT
At Newark, New Jersey, Patrice Bergeron scored from a rebound with 18.3 seconds left in overtime as Boston beat New Jersey to maintain its hold on the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
RED WINGS 5, OILERS 4
At Detroit, Brad Stuart scored with 1:07 left to lift Detroit to the win over Edmondon after blowing a 4-0 second-period lead.
Johan Franzen had a goal and an assist, and Andreas Lilja, Nicklas Kronwall and Drew Miller also scored for Detroit, who won their sixth straight. Jimmy Howard stopped 22 shots.
Tom Gilbert scored twice, Mike Comrie added a goal and an assist, and Zack Stortini also scored for Edmonton.
RANGERS 4, ISLANDERS 3
At Uniondale, New York, Vinny Prospal, Olli Jokinen and Marian Gaborik scored second-period goals, and Marc Staal got the winner early in the third to lift the Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist posted 25 saves for the Rangers in their third win in four games. New York remains four points behind Boston for the final playoff spot in the East with six games left.
Blake Comeau scored twice and Mark Streit added a goal before the Islanders lost for the fourth time in six contests.
BLUE JACKETS 3, LIGHTNING 2
At Colombus, Ohio, Rick Nash scored twice for Columbus, including the winner on the second of four consecutive power plays in the first 12 minutes of the final period.
Mike Lundin and Vincent Lecavalier gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Tampa Bay goalie Antero Niittymaki had 13 of his 22 saves in the final period.
Fedor Tyutin tied it at 6:21 of the third from the high slot with a drive that hit underneath the crossbar before crossing the goal line. Nash scored just over a minute later.
THRASHERS 3, MAPLE LEADS 2
At Toronto, Nik Antropov scored the winner against his former team to help Atlanta keep its playoff hopes alive.
Maxim Afinogenov and Evgeny Artyukhin scored for Atlanta, which is two points out of the final playoff spot in the East with 80 points. Boston, Montreal and Philadelphia all have 82.
Maxim Afinogenov and Evgeny Artyukhin also scored for Atlanta.
Viktor Stalberg had both goals for the Maple Leafs.
BLUES 4, BLACKHAWKS 2
At St Louis, Alex Steen had two goals and an assist, and scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to help St Louis keep faint playoff hopes alive.
Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson also scored for the Blues, who are six points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot with six games to go.
Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa scored for Chicago.
KINGS 2, PREDATORS 0
At Nashville, Tennessee, one day after being recalled from Manchester of the minor league American Hockey League, Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves to record his first career shutout for Los Angeles.
Scott Parse and Sean O’Donnell scored for the Kings.
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