Strome scores twice, Capitals recover for OT victory against Red Wings

WASHINGTON -- Dylan Strome scored twice, including 1:55 into overtime, to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Strome worked a give-and-go with John Carlson on a rush and redirected the return feed past Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon.

"Phenomenal,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said of Strome. “I’m so proud because he’s just such a gamer. He wants to win so badly and you can feel it when you talk to him. You feel it on the bench. So, it’s not about him. It’s not about his own individual stats, goals, assists. He wants to score so badly because he wants to win.”

The goal came after Patrick Kane tied it 3-3 for Detroit with 5:20 remaining in the third period. He scored from the slot off a pass from Alex DeBrincat in the left circle. 

“We would love to just bottle it up and have a boring third period, but that's not the way it went,” Detroit forward Dylan Larkin said. “And we had to respond, and we did.”

Nic Dowd and Connor McMichael scored for the Capitals (36-26-9), who have won six of seven and moved two points ahead of the Red Wings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Carlson had two assists, and Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves.

“I mean, every game feels like a playoff game at this point” Dowd said. “This is our playoffs right now. That, I think, was big because they are so close to us in the standings, yes. But the next game's going to feel the exact same way.”

DeBrincat had a goal and an assist, and David Perron scored for the Red Wings (36-29-7), who have lost two in a row. J.T. Compher had two assists, and Lyon made 26 saves.

“In reality, it’s probably a good road point, but under the circumstances, you certainly want to get the two full points,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Obviously, some mixed emotions there. … Under the circumstances we wanted a little bit more.”

Dowd gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 2:09 of the second period, taking a pass from Nick Jensen and shooting stick side through a screen from between the circles.

DeBrincat tied it 1-1 at 4:53, scoring in front off a pass from Jeff Petry, who had skated down the right wing on the rush.

Perron gave Detroit a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 19:17, knocking in a loose puck near the left post after several saves by Lindgren during a sequence in front of the net.

McMichael tied it 2-2 at 35 seconds of the third period. T.J. Oshie deflected Martin Fehervary’s shot off the end boards, and the puck caromed to McMichael, who tucked it inside the right post.

“We were playing OK, but we weren't playing great, and [McMichael] scored and then I thought we controlled the third period up until maybe four, five minutes left,” Strome said. “I thought it was a good hockey game all around. Nice to be on the right side of those good hockey games and we'll take it and move on.”

Strome gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead at 4:49, scoring with his backhand off a rebound after Lyon made a pad save on Carlson’s shot from the point.

“First two periods we managed the puck pretty well for the most part,” Compher said. “We were aggressive, we were forechecking. They had a good push. A little bit us, a little bit of a desperate team over there, too.”

NOTES: Strome scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season, setting a new career high for the third consecutive season (23 in 2022-23; 22 in 2021-22). He has a five-game point streak (three goals, six assists). … Washington captain Alex Ovechkin’s five-game goal streak ended. … Kane tied Pat LaFontaine (468 goals) for the sixth-most goals among U.S.-born players in NHL history. … DeBrincat’s goal ended a 12-game drought.