Capitals rally to give Braden Holtby 14th win in row

WASHINGTON-- Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made 18 saves for his 14th straight win, 6-4 against the Anaheim Ducks at Verizon Center on Saturday.
Holtby's streak is tied for the second-longest by a goalie in NHL history.
Zach Sanford scored his first NHL goal to break a 4-4 tie with 2:39 remaining in the third period. T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson, Daniel Winnik and Marcus Johansson scored for Washington (39-11-6), which has won six consecutive games and 12 in a row at home.
"We did a lot of good things against them," Holtby said. "They're a pretty skilled offensive team. It's just one of those games I thought we controlled the game for the better part of it, but you just can't give those guys room in certain areas. We knew we were going to have to grind one out sooner or later and we did that tonight."

Jakob Silfverberg, Hampus Lindholm, Ryan Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf scored, and John Gibson made 33 saves for Anaheim (29-18-10), which trailed 4-1.
WATCH: All Ducks vs. Capitals highlights
Lindholm's rebound goal made it 4-2 with 2:24 left in the second period. The Capitals challenged for offside, but the review was inconclusive.
Kesler scored at 9:38 of the third period to get Anaheim within 4-3, and Getzlaf tied it 2:10 later.

"We gave them so many gifts the first period it was like we were watching the game and they were playing the game for that period," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "Then we climbed back into it. The difference ended up being the special teams at the end, if you look at it. They scored a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal and that was the difference in the hockey game."
Oshie's power-play goal gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 6:45 of the first period. Backstrom had an assist for his 700th NHL point.
Washington has scored first in 18 of its past 20 games and in 41 of its 56 games.

Backstrom from the goal line to make it 2-0 at 14:35 of the first period. Wilson scored his fourth goal of the season off a feed from Winnik with 2:12 remaining to give Washington a 3-0 lead.
Silfverberg scored at 7:16 of the second period to make it 3-1. Winnik scored a shorthanded goal at 12:18 to increase the lead to 4-1.
Johansson scored an empty-net goal with 13 seconds remaining to make it 6-4.

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Goal of the game

Backstrom backhanded a rebound from Alex Ovechkin's shot into an open net with a flick of his wrist.

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Save of the game

Gibson sprawled to the ice to stop Justin Williams with his glove in the second period.

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Highlight of the game

Sanford cashed in on Brett Connolly's pass when his shot from the top of the right circle trickled through Gibson.

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Unsung performance of the game

Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler sprung Getzlaf with a pass that led to a breakaway and the goal that tied the game.

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They said it

"That was a pretty cool first one to get it at the end there, and the reaction of all the guys on the bench and the ice just made it awesome, they were so happy for me. They knew I was waiting for it, so to finally get it, it was great." -- Capitals forward Zach Sanford, who scored in his 21st NHL game
"It was a good way to get it done. We played a very good team tonight. Really good first period, I thought we played fast, we came out with a purpose, and we were outstanding. They got really strong and we didn't just play as quick and didn't manage the puck. I think they got a little momentum from their second goal. We tried to get a little too cute and they just sort of chipped away. They have some good players, and a real big day for Zach Sanford getting his first, and I thought we were real resilient at the end. A good win, good break coming up in about 10 minutes." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz
"I know that we have more pride than what we displayed in the first period. That's for sure. We haven't [seen] that type of hockey from our group for a while. It stings because we had the opportunity for points, we had a point and then we get beat with an out-of-control breakout play that should never happen." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle

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Need to know

Holtby, 14-0-0 in his past 16 starts, is three behind the NHL record of 17 straight wins, set by Gilles Gilbert of the Boston Bruins during the 1975-76 season. The other goalies to win 14 straight games are Tiny Thompson, Bruins (1929-30); Ross Brooks, Bruins (1973-74); Don Beaupre, Minnesota North Stars (1985-86); Tom Barrasso, Pittsburgh Penguins (1992-93); and Jonas Hiller, Anaheim Ducks (2013-14). ... Backstrom has 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) this season, tied with Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for second in the NHL, one behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Backstrom has 182 goals and 519 assists in 708 NHL games, and is the fourth player to score 700 points for the Capitals (Alex Ovechkin, 1,017; Peter Bondra, 825; Mike Gartner, 789). … The Capitals begin a five-day break. … Washington joined the 1970-71 Bruins as the only teams in NHL history to score at least five goals in 11 consecutive home games.

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What's next

Ducks: At the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; PRIME, FS-WI, FS-N+, NHL.TV)
Capitals: At the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 18 (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, CSN-DC, FS-D, NHL.TV)