THE SCORING:
1st Period:
4:02 - WSH 1, COL 0 -On a partial breakaway off a turnover, Garnett Hathaway drove up ice and beat Kuemper to give the Caps a 1-0 lead. Johan Larsson and Justin Schultz registered the assists.
17:05 - COL 1, WSH 1- Valeri Nichushkin grabbed a puck from Bowen Byram and jetted up ice and wired a wrist shot past Samsonov's stick to equalize the score 1-1 for Colorado. Cale Makar also picked up an assist.
2nd Period:
13:27 - WSH 2, COL 1, PPG -Washington overtakes the lead as Alexander Ovechkin taps in a feed on the backdoor that trickled past Kuemper from Evgeny Kuznetsov. John Carlson also tallied an assist.
3rd Period:
8:13 - COL 2, WSH 2 -From behind the net, Nico Sturm sent a feed to the paint where Artturi Lehkonen jammed the puck past Samsonov to tie the score up 2-2. Nicolas Aube-Kubel also picked up an assist. The goal was challenged for goaltender interference, but upon review was confirmed as a good goal.
10:46 - WSH 3, COL 2 - Washington forced a turnover and Marcus Johnasson buried a cross-slot feed from Conor Sheary to restore the Capitals' lead 3-2.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Avalanche were 0-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Capitals were 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
GOALTENDING BATTLE:
Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves on 27 shots for the Avalanche.
Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves on 26 shots for the Capitals.
NOTEBOOK:
Kuemper made his 53rd start of the season and his record dropped to 36-10-3 and suffered his first loss in his last six starts…Nichushkin buried his 22nd goal of the season and now has points in five-straight games… Lehkonen scored his 1th goal of the season and his third with the Avalanche… With an assist, Makar set a franchise record for most points in a single season by a defenseman with 83 points (26G, 57A)...
NEXT GAME:
The Avalanche depart for a three-game road trip as they take on the Kraken in Seattle on Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. MT.
