Canucks outlast Capitals in seven-round shootout

WASHINGTON -- Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a seven-round shootout to give the Vancouver Canucks a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Washington's Lars Eller appeared to score to start the fifth round, but a video review showed his shot hit the post and crossbar without going over the goal line. Two rounds later, Horvat beat Braden Holtby with a wrist shot for the win.
Elias Pettersson scored for Vancouver (12-8-4), which has won two in a row and ended a four-game losing streak against Washington. Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves.
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Capitals highlights]
"It's one of those positions you want to be in," Horvat said of having a chance to win the shootout. "You want to be there in the big moments. [Markstrom] was phenomenal in the shootout, and I wanted to be the one to win it for him. So, I was happy I got to go and happy it went in."
Jakub Vrana scored, and Holtby finished with 32 saves for the Capitals (16-4-5), who are 0-1-1 in their past two games.
"Braden was outstanding I thought all game," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "Gives us a chance and right through the shootout gave us a chance. Tough to only get one point, but we'll take it and move on."
Washington defenseman John Carlson's point streak ended at eight games.
The Canucks were 1-for-5 on the power play and were unable to score on the man-advantage during overtime. The Capitals were 0-for-3.
"It's not easy, especially against that power play. They're pretty lethal," Horvat said. "They've got a lot of firepower over there, so for our PK to step up like they did tonight, and our best [penalty-killer] has to be our goalie, and he was tonight."
Vrana gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with a one-timer from the left circle at 2:22 off a pass from Eller.

"I was in that soft area, and as the third guy high I just wanted to be sure that I'm first guy back," Vrana said. "Then Lars won that battle [along the boards] and he gave me the puck."
Pettersson tied it 1-1 at 14:00 with his 10th goal of the season. With the Canucks on a 5-on-3 power play and Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny playing without his stick, J.T. Miller fed across to Pettersson for a one-timer from the right circle.
"He can't cover me as much," Pettersson said of Kempny playing without his stick, "so I can get closer to the net and I can shoot the one-timer closer to the net. It was great."
Pettersson has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past six games.

Early in the second period, Vrana's shot trickled past Markstrom, but defenseman Tyler Myers swept the puck away before it crossed the goal line.
The Capitals have scored one goal in each of their past two games.
"We were scoring at a rate that was kind of unheard of for a while there," Reirden said of the Capitals, who scored at least four goals in 10 of 11 games from Oct. 16-Nov. 9. "This is probably a way of it balancing out and averaging it out. I'd like to get some [offense] for sure and up and down our lineup as well."
Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler left the game in the first period because of an upper-body injury. Green did not have an update on Edler's condition after the game.

They said it

"One of our best [wins] maybe of the year. I thought this was a real gutty win by our team. It's one thing to beat a team when you scored four of five goals, but to push this game the way both goalies were playing, it was a nice win." -- Canucks coach Travis Green
"The second half of the game, I think there were lots of chances on both sides that could have resulted in goals, especially for us. Didn't have that little bounce or execution or whatever it was that was lacking today to get that second goal. I think we did a lot of good things, but just not enough." -- Capitals forward Lars Eller

Need to know

The Canucks have scored their past seven goals on the power play (six) or shorthanded (one, into an empty net), matching the longest run of special-team goals in their history (Dec. 2-9, 2006; Dec. 21-23, 2005; and Nov. 10-12; 1992). ... It was Markstrom's first win in nine decisions against Washington; he had been 0-7-1. ... Canucks forward Jay Beagle (lower-body injury) did not play against his former team. … Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (upper-body injury) missed his second game and remains day to day. ... Washington forward Garnet Hathaway served the second of a three-game suspension for a spitting incident with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Erik Gudbranson on Monday.

What's next

Canucks: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP+, SNP, NHL.TV)
Capitals: Host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, FS-F, NHL.TV)