Capitals rally in third to top Red Wings, end losing streak

DETROIT -- Michal Kempny scored with 3:52 remaining in the third period to help the Washington Capitals rally for a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.

Tom Wilson and Travis Boyd scored, and Braden Holtby made 23 saves for the Capitals (25-12-4), who ended a three-game losing streak. Washington is 9-0-2 in its past 11 games against Detroit.
"We didn't get off to a good start, but we battled through it," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "We did some very fine things when we needed them and we got scoring from some different people. That's good to see."
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Red Wings highlights]
Anthony Mantha and Filip Hronek scored for the Red Wings (16-21-7), who have lost seven of their past eight games. Jimmy Howard made 31 saves.
"We had some moments of good hockey today, but we made too many mistakes," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "For us to win a game like that, we have to be mistake-free, score a lot of goals or win on special teams. We didn't do that."
Kempny gave Washington the lead when his shot found its way through traffic in front.
"You need a little bit of luck to get one through people like that," Kempny said. "There was a really good screen and that makes it tough on the goalie."

The Red Wings went 0-for-3 on the power play but killed all four Capitals power plays, helped by several blocked shots; Jacob de la Rose and Nick Jensen each had to briefly leave the game on the same kill in the third period after blocking shots by Alex Ovechkin.
"It means the world to me to see guys playing like that," Howard said. "We're out there killing a penalty, and they are sacrificing their bodies to help us get a win."
Wilson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 6:57 of the first when he scored off a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov after the Red Wings failed to clear a rebound. The assist was Kuznetsov's 300th NHL point.
"You always have to be ready when you are out there with Evgeny," Wilson said. "You try to expect the unexpected, because his passes are so good. He's fun to play with when he's doing that."
Mantha tied it 1-1 at 14:08 when he stole the puck at the blue line and put a backhand between Holtby's pads for his 10th goal.
"I've got a long stick, and I've been trying to use it to my advantage on defense," Mantha said. "That's one time it worked."
Hronek gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 6:48 of the second period from the edge of the crease after cross-ice passes by Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin.
Boyd made it 2-2 at 6:19 of the third period on a wrist shot after a pass from Ovechkin.
"We had a 3-on-2 and I got the puck to [Ovechkin]," Boyd said. "He had an open shot, and we all know what kind of scorer he is, but he gave me a great feed and I was able to sneak it in."

They said it

"Travis has the ability to create offensively, and his points in terms of even-strength points compared to time on ice is probably one of the tops in the League. That was a huge goal for him and also just massive for our team." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden on forward Travis Boyd
"When you spend that much time killing penalties, it wears you out. But we have to be better on the power play; we have to get the puck in, win a puck battle and get set up. When you aren't doing that, it kills all your momentum in the game." -- Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha

Need to know

The Capitals have one goal in their past 31 power-play chances; the Red Wings have one in their past 20. … Larkin has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in his past 17 games.

What's next

Capitals: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)