McMichael breaks tie in 3rd, Capitals edge Kraken

SEATTLE -- Connor McMichael broke a tie with 8:24 remaining in the third period, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

McMichael intercepted a drop pass by Seattle forward Andre Burakovsky at the offensive blue line and skated in on a breakaway. He then deked to his backhand and lifted a shot over Seattle goalie Joey Daccord’s left pad at 11:36.

“I’m kind of pretty familiar with [Daccord] from last year,” said McMichael, who scored in his second straight game. “He plays pretty aggressive to the shooter and likes to challenge. I just wanted to throw a little fake shot and beat him to the post.”

Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand said: “[Burakovsky] tried to drop it to me, and it kind of stopped. ... I maybe thought it was going to slide a little bit more, but it kind of just stopped, and obviously they got the breakaway."

T.J. Oshie also scored for the Capitals (31-25-9), who had lost two in a row, including 7-2 at the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves.

“That was a huge win for us,” Oshie said. “It’s pretty crazy to think about it. The last two games didn’t go how we wanted to at all, and this was a huge response for us. We’ll just focus on one game at a time.”

Bjorkstrand scored in his second consecutive game for the Kraken (28-25-12), who have lost three in a row (0-2-1). Daccord made 21 saves.

“I think, obviously, we can be better,” Bjorkstrand said. “I think it's a winnable game, so it’s got to be a little bit better.”

Oshie gave Washington a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 14:20 of the second period. Daccord partially whiffed on a clearing attempt that hit Oshie's leg and deflected into the open net.

“Those are kind of the ones you dream about,” Oshie said. “I don’t feel like the puck has been finding me too much these last couple games. It’s nice that he was able to find my leg there and put it in the back of the net for me. It was a fortunate bounce, but I think the Caps could use a couple fortunate bounces right now.”

The Kraken had just four shots on goal in the second.

“The first two periods, mainly the second period, we didn't generate anything offensively,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We didn't come up with enough pucks in the offensive zone, so we were one and done and didn't have any opportunities in there."

Bjorkstrand tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 3:32 of the third, receiving a pass from Yanni Gourde in the high slot and scoring with a wrist shot over Lindgren’s glove.

“We just made two mistakes,” Hakstol said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I’m not going to make more of it than it is. We made two mistakes, and on a night like tonight, those are two mistakes, obviously, that we don’t want to make.”

Washington coach Spencer Carbery said: “I’m really proud of the entire group. This was as difficult of circumstances as you’ll find in this league from a back-to-back standpoint, getting in at two in the morning, the travel, crossing the border, all that stuff after a late game in Edmonton last night.

“For us to play the game we did in Seattle’s building, against a good hockey team that was rested, that was just full commitment. It was every single guy doing the exact things we talk about.”

NOTES: Oshie is one goal of becoming the fifth active U.S.-born player with at least 100 power-play goals. Joe Pavelski (175), Patrick Kane (126), Zach Parise (125) and Chris Kreider (105) are the others. … Oshie is also one game shy of 1,000 in the NHL. Washington’s next game is Saturday at the Vancouver Canucks. … A ceremony was held before the game honoring Kraken forward Jordan Eberle, who played in his 1,000th game on Tuesday, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.